Remember
by the dreamer
Summary: Ren has fallen in love with Kyoko. That was the truth. Kyoko has fallen in love with Ren. Although she fought long and hard to deny it, that was also the truth. But what happens when on the exact same day she finally gives in and admits to her feelings, she gets into an accident and wakes up… as Setsuka Heel?
1. Restart

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

Hello everyone!

I love love LOVE Skip Beat! and I've been a big fan of the manga and anime for a while now. So here I am.

_Important Note:_ This story takes place after **Volume 33: Chapter 200** of the manga or could also happen sometime in the middle of Chapter 201... You pick. This story isn't hard to understand though if you haven't read the manga. I think. Okay, not really. Some scenes (like the juicy Cain x Setsu moment in their hotel room. Eek!) are heavily implied through the course of this story. That's it though, so I really think it's not all too hard to understand. But then again I'm the author so what do I know.

Besides that, I also want you all to know that this is my _first_ story for Skip Beat!- I've been writing exclusively for CCS -but I hope you will still like it.

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

Kyoko stole a glance at the president as she settled herself on one of the many seats at the back of Ten's trailer.

How was she going to explain herself to him? The look on his face earlier as he caught sight of her expression when she was encased tightly in Ren's arms at the studio…

She shivered. She didn't even want to think about it.

"We're ready to go darling!" Ten announced as she sat down on the driver's seat.

Kyoko was infinitely grateful for the woman's presence. If she hadn't been around, she was sure the president would start questioning her then and there about her feelings for Ren.

"Let's go," Lory said, buckling up. He was seated at the front beside Ten.

Sighing, Kyoko looked out of the curtained window just in time to catch Ren and Yashiro get into his silver Porsche. This was another thing she was grateful for, that she didn't have to ride in the same car as him.

Ten had come to the studio with Yashiro to pick her and Ren up. Lory, who had been at the studio since the afternoon to spy on the pair, had come using Ren's car.

She was also perplexed when she found out that Ren was still heading out to film a TV drama which explained Yashiro's presence. It was almost four in the morning after all.

Did that man ever sleep? Also, what sane person would actually schedule a shooting at this time?

Her curiosity was immediately settled earlier however when Ten was in the middle of removing their makeup and fixing their hair for she had questioned Ren about it. Apparently, the absurd time was only scheduled for that day. They were shooting on location and sunrise was needed for the certain scene they were going to film. The actors needed to go as early as the crew for hair, makeup, and a run-through before the final take by sunrise.

Kyoko smiled at the thought while the trailer moved along down the streets in a steady pace.

So this was why she was in love with Ren then? His dedication? His passion to his field of work? Of course, she knew that those weren't the only reasons why. There were a lot of things about the man that was hard not to love. When he wasn't giving off that gentleman's smile of his that made her cringe, he was actually a very kind and understanding man. He was also talented, serious, reliable, awe-inspiring… The list can go on and on.

If she knew all of this from the very beginning, why hadn't she realized her feelings for him until now?

The events that took place in their hotel room the other night…

Kyoko blushed and shook her head at the memory. She still couldn't believe they did that. That _she_ did that. But she knew that was the triggering factor to her jumbled up emotions. Well, that and the fact that the girl, Manaka or whatever, kept clinging onto him earlier today. The thought of her being so close and openly showing affection towards him still irritated her.

Yes, it definitely took all those things to finally make her realize and admit to her feelings.

'I love him,' Kyoko thought to herself in wonder. She still can't believe it. After everything she had been through with Sho, she was actually capable of experiencing the feeling again. 'I love Tsuruga Ren.'

With that almost surreal admission, a shy smile found its way on her face.

Then a blinding light took her attention away from her own thoughts.

She turned to look outside the window again just in time to see a pick-up truck lose control and swerve towards their direction.

Kyoko's eyes widened as the car gave a loud screech, twisted around, and slammed against them. The impact sent chinks of broken glass everywhere and had also sent her soaring from her seat until she hit the opposite side of the trailer, hard.

It took a moment for her to clear her head. Even then it wasn't entirely clear for the hit had made her woozy, but she managed to open her eyes and clear a bit of her blurred vision at least.

From her crumpled and aching form on the trailer floor, she managed to turn her head enough to see Lory and Ten. His bloodied arms that had large shards of glass poking through some areas were holding onto Ten who had been thrown off her seat with her legs still stuck in an unnatural position in the driver's area.

The car collided with them on the left-hand side of the trailer where she from the front and Kyoko from the back were seated.

"Mogami-kun! Are you okay?"

"I'm…" Kyoko thought she spoke although she didn't hear her own voice. After he had shouted those words which sounded a mile away to her, a persistent ringing had started in her ears.

She tried to stop the sound by covering one of her ears with her palm. But as soon as she did this, she pulled her hand back immediately.

The contact not only intensified the ongoing pain in her head that she seem to not have noticed until now but it also made her realize that there was actually a hot, sopping wet feeling in that area as well.

Kyoko looked down at her withdrawn hand and saw it.

Blood. A lot of it.

Her arms which she used to shield her face earlier were full of bloody gashes from the broken window glass just like the president's but she was sure the large amount of blood that was staining her hand now had come from a much bigger and more severe wound.

Just thinking about it made her feel sick to her stomach.

Kyoko could feel herself getting dizzy. The loud ringing in her ear was starting to disappear and so was her vision.

Not a moment later… Everything turned black.

**xoxo**

Kyoko was starting to stir. But as more of her consciousness returned, so did the pain. A groan escaped her lips.

'Where…?'

She tried to move her head where she felt something touching- or prodding or hammering, really –the top of her scalp.

Bad idea.

Kyoko groaned even louder as pain shot through her.

"Kyoko-chan, please don't move," instructed a man's soft and familiar voice somewhere above her.

"She's in pain!" exclaimed a more urgent voice. It was also a man's voice and it was just as familiar, more so than the first.

"Let's hurry up."

She heard more people nearby agreeing and she felt herself move even faster. It was apparent to her that she was on a vehicle of some sort and was being taken somewhere although where exactly, she didn't know.

Even if someone were to tell her, she doubted she'd remember it either. The persistent pain in her head was almost deafening.

"That's the operating room. You have to stay here."

"But-"

"I'm sorry Tsuruga-san." The man's words were stern and expressed finality.

She heard a pair of doors being swung open.

"Ren, she'll be okay. Let them take care of it."

That faintly conveyed sentence was the last thing Kyoko heard before she heard the doors swinging again and before she lost consciousness once more.

* * *

**Chapter One**

**"Restart"**

* * *

"Shacho!"

Lory sighed. His eyes were closed and it remained closed as the small crowd of people started gathering around him.

"Shacho! Are you okay?"

"How are you feeling?"

"We were worried about you, sir."

He let them express their concern for a short while before he finally raised a hand to silence everyone and opened his eyes to look at them all. Well, one eye since the other one had a bandage over it.

His gaze passed through everyone nearby, which comprised of Sawara and the other section heads of LME who had visited the hospital to represent their various departments, until his sight landed on Ren who had remained seated on a bench not too far away with Yashiro talking in low murmurs beside him.

"Everyone, I'm perfectly fine," Lory finally said with a reassuring smile at the group in front of him.

He appreciated their concern but there were other more important things to deal with at that moment and he was bent on taking care of it first.

"Can you give me a bit of privacy for a while? Please go wait in my hospital room. Maria is there and I need someone to watch over while she's there at any rate. I'll be with you soon."

They all nodded. The president rarely showed his overly serious side and it was apparent from his face and his tone of voice that he was dead serious at that very moment.

Lory waited until they rounded the corner before wheeling himself over towards the pair sitting on the bench.

"Shacho," Yashiro acknowledged with a nod. "It's good to see you up and about though I still think you should go back to bed."

He ignored his suggestion but nodded in return before turning to Ren. The young man still had his elbows on his knees with his face in his hands.

Quite frankly, he didn't know what to say to Ren. He wasn't involved in the accident so he knew the main reason why he was so distraught over this was the fact that he saw the accident happen and the wreckage thereafter. Not to mention the state of Kyoko when she was taken out of debris.

Lory turned back to Yashiro. "What are you guys doing out here? Who's watching over Mogami-kun?"

"Two doctors just when in to check on Kyoko-chan. She woke up only a few minutes ago. They're doing some tests so they made us wait out here."

"How… How is she?"

"Physically, she seems okay," he informed reassuringly although his face betrayed his tone of voice. He looked just as distressed as Ren and why wouldn't he be? He saw the accident happen as well. "Most of the trauma was to her head that's why it took her this long to regain consciousness. Other than that, she only has minor scratches and bruises, nothing permanent. The test they're doing now will still confirm things though."

Before he could say any more, the door to Kyoko's room opened.

Ren got to his feet immediately, as did Yashiro.

"How is Mogami-kun?" Lory asked quickly. "Is she okay?"

The two doctors looked at each other for a moment.

"She's okay," answered Dr. Maeda, the younger of the two.

The older one, Dr. Asano, then looked at Ren. "Tsuruga-san, you were the one who filled up… Err… Ms. Mogami's admitting form, is that correct?"

Ren nodded although confused with this question. What did this have to do with her condition?

"We are all aware that Mogami-kun is underage," Lory cut in, "but we at LME take full responsibility for her. She's an orphan you see. You can use my name as her guardian if you have to."

"Uhmm… No, you misunderstand," Dr. Asano amended with a raised hand. "It's just that, we've spoken to her and…"

The older doctor seemed to be at a loss as to what to say. He looked just as confused as Ren now.

"What's going on?" Ren asked. Something was obviously not right.

"The young lady inside is fully awake now and quite… Uhm…"

"Reserved," Dr. Maeda supplied.

"Reserved?" the three men echoed. That wouldn't be the word of choice they'd use to describe Kyoko but then again she did just come out of an accident.

"Yes. She also can't say much to us," said Dr. Asano. "She's perfectly capable of talking though, it's nothing serious like that," he added in a rush after seeing the dire looks on their faces. "She just refuses to talk to us, that's all."

"Why? Is she in too much pain to talk?"

"No, she just refuses to say much more than needed. She says she won't. Not without her brother there at least."

"Her brother?" the three men echoed together yet again.

"Doc, Kyoko-chan doesn't have a brother," Yashiro said, perplexed.

"I clearly wrote that down in the form too, no parents or siblings," Ren added, a frown on his face.

"That's why I was wondering if we have the right girl in there," said Dr. Asano with sigh. He shook his head. It was clear he was even more perplexed now.

"Is she still confused?" Lory asked, looking just as confused himself.

"On the contrary," Dr. Maeda replied, "she's quite well. Besides the fact that she doesn't want to talk to us unless necessary, her vitals look good and she's in a right state of mind. No signs of confusion at all."

Ren sighed and raised a hand to stop anyone else from saying. It may seem rude of him but none of them are going anywhere with their conversation. He rubbed his temple with his other hand before speaking his mind. "If you say she's perfectly alright, then let us know… What exactly is the problem here?"

The two doctors looked at each other yet again before Dr. Asano finally spoke.

"The girl inside claims she doesn't know a Mogami Kyoko."

"I beg your pardon?" Ren asked incredulously.

Dr. Maeda nodded grimly. "She doesn't recognize the name at all. Whenever we called her by that name, she all but glares at us."

Lory looked at both doctors with raised brows. "Then what does she want to be called then if not her name?"

"Her real name, or so she says it is."

"Which is?" Yashiro persisted.

"Setsuka Heel."

**xoxo**

'Where the hell is nii-san?' Setsu thought while looking around her hospital room.

She sighed and shut her eyes. What happened to her? And how did she end up in the hospital in the first place?

Her head pounded. As it did every time she tried too hard to remember anything.

'Dammit nii-san, come back to my side already!' she thought fiercely.

The door clicked.

Setsu swiftly turned her head to see who it was this time. Her head pounded again.

"Damn," she hissed under her breath, shutting her eyes once more and waiting for the pain to ease. "Nii-san?" she called out. "Is that you?"

She listened as the newcomers came closer to her bed.

"Kyoko-chan?" a soft, male voice that sounded sort of familiar to her, spoke up.

It took a few more seconds for the pain to subside and she waited until it lowered down to a dull throbbing before opening her eyes.

There were two men in front of her. One of them was a young man with light-colored hair that fell past his ears, wearing a suit and glasses. His companion was much older with long black hair in a ponytail and he was seated on a wheelchair, wearing a patient's gown exactly like the one she was currently wearing and he had a bandage over the side of his head which covered one of his eyes as well as a cast on his left foot than ran all the way up to middle of his calf. He had bandages around his arms as well.

Setsu looked down at her own heavily bandaged arms.

Some of his bandaged injuries looked fairly similar to her own. Did she come out of the same accident as this man? The doctors earlier had told her she was in a car accident with people from her "company" whatever that meant.

"Kyoko-chan?" glasses man asked her again, snapping her back to the present.

She scowled.

"Will you people stop calling me that?" she asked, trying to keep the resentment in her voice. She didn't have a bad personality, if anything she never got this easily riled up, but her patience was worn now that everyone kept using that name on her. That and she was still in considerable amounts of pain. "My name is Setsuka Heel. Call me Setsu, okay? I don't know who this Kyoko is but I really don't like being mistaken for her or anyone else for that matter. It's quite rude too."

Both men looked at each other and the worried looks on their faces was apparent.

"What?" she asked with a frown.

"Moga- Setsu-san," wheelchair guy spoke up, "do you know who I am?"

His voice was awfully familiar too.

"I… I'm not sure. Should I?"

They looked at each other again. Now she was irritated.

"What?"

"K- Setsu-san, my name is Yashiro Yukihito and this is President Takarada Lory. We're both from LME. Does that ring any bells?"

Setsu frowned. Not only were their voices awfully familiar, so were the things they were saying. But she… Just. Can't. Remember.

She gripped her head again, feeling another round of pain emitting from the inside of her skull.

Yashiro and Lory watched as she shut her eyes and started groaning in agony.

"You stay here," Lory instructed in a whisper before wheeling himself around and out the door.

**xoxo**

Ren frowned after the doctors as they turned to make their leave. They had just told him the full story of what's going on, or what they think is going on anyway.

"Ren," Lory said in a low voice as he rolled out of the room towards him. "She really does know herself as Setsu. She doesn't even recognize the name Mogami Kyoko or Yashiro and I for that matter."

He sighed and sat back down on the bench he had only recently vacated. His mind was reeling. "The doctors said they think its amnesia."

Lory gave him an unconvinced look at this.

"It does make sense," Ren added although he didn't look happy all the same. "The doctors made it kind of sensible to me anyway. Mogami-san really had forgotten her memories except for her character as Setsu. I talked it out with them. I explained to them who Setsuka Heel was and they said they were sure now that she's suffering a type of amnesia."

"What did they say we do about it?"

"They want to keep her here for further tests until they're sure she's stable. After that, they said all we can do is wait until her memories return."

"Do we knock her on the head again to help her recover her memory?"

Ren ignored this poorly made joke. Although he was relatively calm now knowing Kyoko was fine in a sense that she was alive, their situation was still worrisome to a degree.

"What do you want to do?" Lory added in a more serious tone now.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked, surprised.

"Mogami-kun, or rather, Setsu is asking for her _brother_," he pointed out. "Should we force reality on her now or should we give her Cain Heel?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

How was it?_ *Paranoid*_ I hope you guys enjoyed it!

I don't know if this plot is overdone because I never read any Skip Beat! fanfics. before but I assure you the content is 100% original that my brain thought of.

I started writing this right after the recent chapter (Chapter 201) of the Skip Beat! manga came out a few days ago. When the inspiration struck me, I ended up coming up with this plot and writing like mad since then. In fact, I already finished writing the entire story except for the finale chapter.

Also, I rated this story as **T** but it'll sort of border on M in the following chapters. Not quite sure what to do about it. I'll change it accordingly if I have to later.

I'll update when I hear what you think!

**RaNe**


	2. Readjustment

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

Thank you loads to everyone who read and reviewed.

I was also pleasantly surprised that some of my readers from CCS are here too. Awesome! :)

I'm simply glad at the reception my new story got here. I hope you'll continue to like it as we go along!

Well, enough talk. On towards chapter two!

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**"Readjustment"**

* * *

It turns out they didn't have a choice on the matter.

No matter how much Yashiro and Lory and even Maria tried to tell Kyoko the truth, the girl just wouldn't budge. If anything, she was close to getting violent.

Her demands to see her brother had also increased which was exactly why Ren had no choice but to give her what she wanted. It was the only way to gain her cooperation, otherwise they will go nowhere in terms of her recovery.

"Thank you Ms. Woods," Ren said after she gave a firm nod, indicating she was done.

Ten gave Ren a look but just as easily sighed in defeat. No matter how many times she reminded him to call her by her real name, he still insists on calling her by her business name, and so formally too.

"I'm sorry again about all this, Ren-chan," she said in a small and apologetic voice.

Ren looked at her, surprised at the guilty look the woman now had on her unnaturally young features.

"It wasn't your fault. It was three in the morning and that driver that collided with you was drunk."

"Still!" she countered. "If I were more careful. All this wouldn't have…"

Ren shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Just focus on getting yourself better," he said, eyeing her legs which were both wrapped in casts that went all the way to her thighs.

Since Ten was the one driving the trailer she and Lory always rode in when they drop off and pick up the "Heel siblings" for Ren's shoot, she got the worst end of it. Luckily enough, only her lower body got damaged in the accident. So she was still perfectly able to do Ren's transformation makeup to Cain Heel although with great difficulty since she was stuck in her hospital bed while doing it.

"Tell Kyoko-chan I said…" she trailed off.

Ren gave her a sad smile, indicating he understood.

There would be no point in telling Kyoko she sent her greetings for she wouldn't remember her anyway.

**xoxo**

Setsu fumed. She's been fuming for the past few days she's been cooped up in the hospital and she was close to cracking.

What were they playing at? They keep telling _her_ this and that about _her_ life. Not only was it ridiculous that they thought about lecturing her about details about herself, but what they kept telling her wasn't even true.

Her name wasn't Kyoko, it was Setsuka. And she wasn't an orphan. Her parents were perfectly healthy for their age back in England and she also has a brother even if she had no clue as to where the man was at the moment.

"Nii-san!" she shrieked in irritation, slamming her fists on the bed. Her patience and sanity was wearing thin by the day. She was about to lose it.

She felt a dull pounding in her head after her outburst. Her headaches were getting less severe and less frequent now. Most of the bandages around her arms and legs were also taken off now though she still wore a few square shaped dressings in some areas of her body. The bandage around her head was still there though, the doctors refused to take it out until they were sure her wound there was perfectly healed.

About that part, she didn't complain. It had taken all that she had not to faint when she saw the horrid _ginger_ color of her now _short_ hair. What happened to her long platinum blonde locks with the pale pink and peach highlights?

Setsu sighed and laid back down on the bed. She didn't even bother thinking about it any further since she knew she couldn't remember anyway. It also added to her depression to keep thinking about it. She had all but avoided her reflection ever since that time.

A knock came from the door.

"Mmmm…" she grumbled in reply. It can only be another one of the many nurses again. Her doctors had already dropped in on her earlier that day and her previous guests, the men called Yashiro and Lory had already stopped bothering to come visit her. She can't blame them. All she did was get into a foul temper and showed them exactly that when they started talking about who they think she was.

Another knock.

Setsu frowned. So it wasn't one of the nurses. Those women and other hospital staff usually just knock and enter on their own accord.

"Come in," she called out.

And he did.

She watched as her brother's dark and ragged form entered the room. When he caught sight of her, he stood there, watching her intently and silently with a guarded look on his face.

Just the sight of him standing there calmed her down.

So what if she had no idea who the people around her were? So what if she was in pain? So what if her hair was atrocious?

Nii-san is here.

"Nii-san," she called out in a choked whisper she didn't at all intend to use.

She raised her arms towards him.

"Setsu," he said in an almost choked voice of his own as he strode over towards her and took her into his arms.

This was the first time he'd seen her after leaving her side that day she woke up. Lory had insisted he stayed away until they could assess the entire situation and see what the best way to approach Kyoko. Adding another person to introduce to her besides the president, Yashiro, and Maria might push her even further. It might confuse her more as well if he introduced himself as Tsuruga Ren and later come back as her brother.

Tears poured out of Setsu's eyes then as she felt her brother hug her tightly against his wide chest. This was very unlike her but she figured he'd understand. She was in a hospital and had obviously suffered injuries after all. She can always blame her tears on those reasons later if he decided to question her about her uncharacteristic behavior.

But speaking of uncharacteristic behavior, her brother wasn't himself either. She can feel his entire body shaking as he sat there holding on to her.

"Nii-san?" she asked in a small voice. "Are you okay?"

It took a few seconds for Ren to collect himself enough to finally respond.

"I'm fine," he said curtly which he had hoped sounded normal to his "sister."

Ren was so racked with so many emotions from worry, despair, relief, and joy that he couldn't help but shake from it. He even felt anger for himself as well although he knew he didn't have to feel angry. His anger was only there because when the accident took place, his car- while at a stop in the intersection –was right behind the trailer when the collision happened. It might be a ridiculous thought but if he had somehow crashed his own car against the trailer to force it a bit forward when he saw the out of control SUV coming, he might've help alleviate the worse of his friends' injuries if only a little. Yes the thought was ridiculous and senseless and it only made him feel worse but he preferred the anger over himself than feeling helplessly worried.

He breathed in and out a few times before his body was finally under his control.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine now that nii-san is here," she admitted truthfully. "Where have you been?"

Ren tried not to grin at the frown she currently had on her face. Cain Heel did not grin. He gave the occasional small smile to his sister but never a grin.

"My schedule was tight the entire week. I only just got off from work," he lied smoothly. This was one of the things he liked about being a professional actor. The ease and lack of effort needed for fabrication.

Setsu sighed.

"I can't wait until you finish shooting your movie here," she admitted, still frowning. "The Japanese really are weird nii-san, especially the ones I've met since I woke up here. They keep telling me weird things."

Ren pulled back and tilted her head by the chin to look up at him.

"Do you remember anything?"

"About what?"

"The accident that got you in here."

She shook her head. "But the doctors and the two men who used to always visit me told me about it. They said it was a car accident."

Ren nodded.

"Where were you in all this?"

"I was still at the studio. We ended shooting really late that day so I had people pick you up to bring you to our new place ahead of me. We moved to another place because I'll be filming on location for a while and the new place is closer," he lied again.

Setsu frowned. All that didn't seem familiar to her at all. "I see. I can't really remember though."

The dull throbbing had started again.

Ren looked down at her as she gripped the side of her head.

"Does it still hurt?"

She nodded. "Only when I try too hard to remember."

It was his turn to frown. If this happened every time she tried to remember anything of her past, then it would be harder for her to recover her memories, wouldn't it? This means they have to return over time on their own.

Setsu looked up in time to see her brother frown. A more severed frown that what he usually wore anyway.

"What's wrong?" she asked, running a finger over his lips.

Ren stiffened. He might be dressed as Cain Heel but he was nowhere near his character, especially not now when her supposed sister wasn't looking like his sister. Kyoko looked very much like Kyoko. The lack of piercings, her wig, and the heavy amounts of black and leather made that so.

He held her by the wrist and pulled her hand away.

"Nothing's wrong," he answered, his voice hoarse.

She didn't believe him but nodded. Her brother was always an enigma sometimes, even to her.

"Don't leave my side," she said pleadingly before draping her arms over his shoulders and around his neck in a tight embrace.

**xoxo**

The week after that, Kyoko was finally discharged.

Things had also proven to be even more difficult by then too.

Ren had to reintroduce her to Lory and Ten but this time told her that they were his acquaintances, the ones he had asked to take her to the new hotel the night of the accident. He had also mistakenly reintroduced Yashiro to her as his manager. Kyoko had argued this fact fiercely, saying that she was his manager though acting as translator on the set to keep people away from him because he didn't particularly enjoy people getting too close. But Ren immediately settled the matter by telling her that she had been asleep for nearly a week– which was nowhere near the truth since she was only unconscious for a little more than a day –and that he had to get another manager/translator for the time being and so explains Yashiro's current position.

Besides his own efforts, things weren't any easier on Lory either for the duty to appease everyone else about Kyoko's current state had fallen onto his shoulders. He had to call a meeting with the staff at LME about Kyoko's indefinite leave from the Love Me section, then there was TBM Studios to tell them to cast a replacement for Bo, then the director and producers for _Box "R"_ as well. The last one was particularly complicated since the program was still ongoing. It was lucky enough that she had already shot a lot of her scenes that will cover her absence for two months at most.

"I'll be right back, nii-san," Setsu announced, finally letting go of Ren's hand which she had been resolutely holding on to since they entered the room.

"Where are you going?"

"Going to get a drink. Do you want anything?"

He shook his head in which case she nodded and exited Ten's hospital room. She hadn't bothered asking the others if they wanted anything.

Everyone sighed.

"Are you sure about all this?" Yashiro asked although to no one specifically.

Ten merely looked back at him worriedly. She was still laying in her hospital bed since she wasn't due to leave for a few more weeks.

"This is all that we can do," Lory replied as he played with his crutch by banging it over and over against the bedside table. He had been discharged only two days ago- mostly because he demanded it –and had taken to using a crutch to get around since his cast was still in place.

Ren sighed and fell onto the couch beside Yashiro.

"Can you keep going like this Ren?"

Yashiro was shooting worried looks at him now.

"It'll get better once we all get used to this," he said tiredly. In truth he was exhausted. It was like going back to when he had created "Tsuruga Ren" years back. It took him quite a while to adjust to living the character day in and day out back then. He just hoped that doing it again now as Cain Heel would be easier. So far, it wasn't.

Not only was it all a challenge for him emotionally, it was a challenge physically as well. He had to take lessons about makeup from Ten about the basic transformation techniques she used to turn Tsuruga Ren to Cain Heel and vice versa since he can't very well drop by the hospital to get himself done by her every single day.

"Have you settled his schedule, Yashiro?" Lory asked.

He nodded. "I placed all of Ren's new offers on hold and had only scheduled his interviews and photo shoots to times when it'll be easy to avoid Kyoko," he said before turning to Ren. "You can just tell Kyoko that she can't come with you to work so she could rest or something like that."

Ren nodded mutely.

"What about the couple at Darumaya?" Yashiro suddenly asked, only just remembering that fact. "They would worry about Kyoko's absence, wouldn't they?"

"I called them too," Lory supplied. "I told them Mogami-kun will stay in an LME exclusive dormitory through the course of filming her new drama."

This was all getting out of hand and everyone in the room knew it.

Lies. They were living a lie full of even more lies in every corner.

How can they possibly keep up with this?

**xoxo**

Setsu stopped in the middle of the doorway as the unfamiliar sight reached her gaze.

"This is our hotel room? I don't remember this place nii-san," she said, confused.

Ren poked her in the middle of her back to keep her moving forward as he carried her bag of new clothes in.

"This is the new place I mentioned before. We moved since this place is nearer to where I'm filming for a while."

In truth, this building was a block even farther from the set than their last hotel. But seeing as they're going to be living there every single day without pause for some time, it was a smart thing to do to get a more permanent location. This place in particular was one of Lory's hardly ever used condos which he reserved for his friends and acquaintances who visit the country from abroad. Now, however, it's officially the Heel siblings place of residence.

"I see," she replied shortly as she walked across the vast living area and pulled open one of the curtains. "You must've spent a lot for this place," she pointed out, seeing the wonderful view.

Ren simply shrugged. This was another fortunate thing for him. Cain Heel was a man of few words even to his own sister so it was perfectly okay to reply with grunts or random gestures.

"Do you want me to prepare dinner?" she called out to him seeing he had disappeared to one of the connecting rooms.

"Can you?" he called back in a monotonous tone.

Setsu still caught his meaning however and had to hold her tongue from retorting.

When she got dressed that morning, getting ready to leave her hospital room, she spent nearly an hour in her bathroom simply staring at her bag of cosmetics. She actually knew how to apply makeup, she still remembers exactly how she usually looks like from the colors of her hair to the last piercing, but for some reason or another, she just can't bring herself to use any of the makeup. Her brother had to take her to the woman named Jelly Woods admitted in the nearby room to have her do her makeup as well as give her a wig that looked uncannily identical to her hair that she remembered having before the accident.

She smiled and absentmindedly and ran a hand through the hair of the wig she was now wearing. If she hadn't had it- which she assumed her brother had ordered for her after she told him days ago of her horror over the state of her hair –she wouldn't have stepped out of her hospital room at all.

**xoxo**

"She's not here?" Kanae blinked. "I haven't dropped by for almost a week because of the drama I'm shooting and you mean to tell me you haven't seen her for almost that long too?"

Chiori nodded as she slipped into her Love Me uniform. Unwilling she may be to admit it, but she was actually getting used to the get-up.

"I wasn't here but apparently the president gave the announcement just a few days ago. Kyoko-san is on an indefinite leave of absence from work."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know the details. Even our director for _Box "R"_ announced it to us around the same time. We're putting off shooting scenes with her in it for a later time."

Kanae frowned and immediately reached into her bag for her cell phone. It was only then that she noticed the girl not contacting her for anything for a while now. Her mail and call history proved that. Kyoko had always made sure to bug her every chance she got whether with news of importance or to the downright pointless.

"I'm sure she's okay Kotonami-san," Chiori reassured. "She'll be back soon. Maybe she's gone back to her hometown or something. I bet you she's even enjoying herself right now."

**xoxo**

"_It's a mark that means I'm yours…"_

"_I'll leave one for you… Where it can be seen… And… Where it can't."_

Ren shifted uncomfortably as he always did when this particular memory came to mind and incorporated itself in his dreams. Only, in his dreams, what took place that night always went…out of hand, as it went along.

'Damn it,' he thought with an internal sigh of both frustration and arousal. Ever since that happened around two weeks ago, his thoughts have never gone back to normal.

He shifted again, or tried to since his earlier attempt at movement was impeded by something.

"Mmm… Nnnnnn…" a voice mumbled incoherently near his ear.

Ren stiffened almost immediately and his eyes flew open.

"Nggg… Nii-sannnn… Nnn…" Setsu said with a sigh as her hold tightened even more.

"Mo-" Ren stopped the moment he heard his own voice. 'How in the world did this happen?'

Kyoko, or rather Setsu, was currently in his bed with her head snuggled against his neck with an arm and a leg draped over him under the blanket. Not only was there position incriminating, the girl actually looked quite serene and content while doing so.

It didn't take long for Ren's feelings to start stirring deep within him.

This wasn't good.

Gingerly, he held her by the forearm and shifted her form to lie on her back instead.

A frown appeared on her face and she started groaning in protest.

"Setsu," he whispered persuasively into her ear.

"Nii-sannn… Mine… Mmm…" she replied in her dreaming state before rolling over to the other side with a contented smile.

Ren sighed.

She really had thoughts of only her "brother" and her love and adoration for him if that's what she would be saying even when asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

This chapter is a bit toned down. I needed to get the essential details out there before I can move on with the plot.

For the next chapter, our favorite _blond_ will make his appearance. Look forward to it! See you then!

**RaNe**


	3. Recognize

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

A double update!

Well, it is if you also read my other ongoing story which I updated just a few minutes ago. Lol

I'm travelling out of the country for a_ long_ vacation by tomorrow evening so I thought about leaving all my readers a treat before I go.

I'll still be updating this story regularly though. Promise. So, no worries.

For now... Do enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Three**

**"Recognize"**

* * *

Setsu checked the wall clock and huffed. Her brother sure was taking his sweet time in the shower.

She had already prepared breakfast- successfully –and she wanted to show it off to him. It took her more than half an hour to prepare it and he's been in there for more than that. He was already in the bath when she woke up.

Not taking it anymore, she strode over towards the bathroom and walked right in. The bathroom, which she had already seen from yesterday's little tour around their new "home" was huge. There was a bathtub twice as big as usual as well as a separate shower stall in there.

Today, her dearest brother was in the bath tub with his back towards her.

Without a word, Setsu walked over towards him, sat on the side and faced him. His eyes were closed.

She leaned forward and blew air into his face.

"O-ha-yo nii-san," she greeted.

'Cain Heel,' Ren reminded himself before he lazily opened his eyes and responded to her. "Good morning Setsu," he said in a calm voice which totally betrayed his actual feelings. Ever since he woke up, he still hadn't gathered his wits and the present situation only worsened it. What the hell was wrong with him? This rookie actress- even though she presently had memory loss and wasn't really acting at the moment –was beating him. Since when could that happen? Since when did he _let_ it happen?

"Breakfast is getting cold. You're taking too long."

"Sorry, I'll finish up soon."

"Want me to help?" she suggested, a mischievous glint in her eye.

_This_ was why it happened.

He and Kyoko had only gotten back into stride of their life as the Heel siblings but already he took notice of the difference in their relationship. This version of Setsu was much more extreme.

When it was Setsu controlled by Kyoko, the limits- although scant –were obvious. It was obvious then that within her character as Setsuka, Kyoko was there to hold back when needed.

This Setsu who thought she actually was Setsu seem to have no limit to what she feels for her brother or to what she's willing to do for him.

That was proven last night when she gave him a back massage which he had to stop when her dainty little hands were nearing his butt without signs of her intending to stop. It was proven again when he woke up with her sleeping so closely next to him that very morning when they clearly had separate bedrooms here.

Now this. And he won't put it past her to actually hesitate in doing what she just suggested either.

"We'll take even more time if you do," he pointed out. He patted her on the head and motioned for her to leave. "Go on, I'll be out soon."

She nodded and did as she was told.

When the door slammed behind her, Ren sunk even deeper into the tub.

"Get a hold of yourself," he told himself as he, yet again, tried to calm his rampaging thoughts and feelings.

**xoxo**

Setsu frowned as she watched her brother take out his jacket from the closet by the entryway.

"Why can't I come?" she asked for the umpteenth time.

"Because you're supposed to be resting. You just got out of the hospital," Ren explained patiently.

"But I feel fine now."

"All the same. The doctors said you need rest."

Her frown deepened.

Ren turned to look at her. She was obviously doing well now if he didn't count the memory loss but he can't have her tagging along because he had to do an interview for a magazine as Tsuruga Ren after shooting _Tragic Marker_ today.

"What am I going to do with myself while I'm stuck here?"

He looked around, wondering the same thing. "Watch TV."

"Nii-san…" she complained.

"There's a shopping district near here. You can go and look around if you like. Just promise you won't stray too far and that you come back right after."

"Shopping?"

Ren nodded curtly and pointed at her current outfit that comprised a pair of her own shorts and one of his shirts which was too large for her.

"You said you didn't like those flannel pajamas I got you. So go buy a couple of things you do like," he said before handing her his wallet which held only cash.

"I never said I didn't like them," she countered defensively. "I like everything nii-san gives me. It's just that they weren't the type of sleeping clothes I usually wear, that's all."

He gave her a small smile and stroked her cheek.

"Go ahead. I'll give you a call sometime later."

Setsu nodded as she watched him getting his keys and head for the door.

With a last moment of hesitation, she bounded up to him and tapped him on the shoulder while his hand was on the door handle.

"Nii-san?"

Ren turned to look at her.

She smiled and tiptoed high enough on her bare feet to his face and kissed him around his jaw. He was rather tall so really that was the highest she could reach.

"See you later."

He blinked and tried to keep the surprise from showing on his supposedly passive face.

"See you," he said and kissed the top of her head in return before finally taking his leave.

**xoxo**

"So that's how you do it, okay? Be careful though. This doesn't weigh as much as the actual thing but it could still hurt."

The trainer tossed the baton over to Murasame who nodded. He looked at Cain who nodded in understanding as well.

"Very well! The director said we'll start with the run-through in a bit. They're still prepping the set right now. So you two plan out how you're doing the rest of the scene during the wait."

Murasame thanked him and watched him leave before turning to Cain. He looked at him for just a second or two before turning away to practice with the baton by himself. He had worked long enough with the man to know it's impossible to "plan out" anything with him.

Ren watched Murasame fool around with the baton while he stayed still in his position against the wall with his arms crossed. He didn't need to practice the scene anymore and he was satisfied just staying right where he was.

Being around Murasame and the rest of the _Tragic Marker_ cast and crew had been like a refuge. He was even comforted from trying to fend of Manaka from trying to get close to him with her ridiculous hamster role-playing which she'd been doing with extra effort lately due to Setsu's absence.

He felt relieved now and back to normal. Cain Heel normal, anyway.

Just seeing them and getting back into this environment brought him back to Cain's reality and it was something he was grateful for. Spending too much time as Cain with his sister made him lose the essence of the character.

**xoxo**

"Sho?"

He blinked.

Shoko frowned and stopped waving her hand in front of his face.

"What's wrong?"

Sho blinked again and shook his head.

"Shoko-san, don't you need to buy some beauty product or something? You were mentioning it last night after you took your bath that you ran out."

She was surprised he had listened. Even more surprised that he actually remembered.

"Yes, but-"

"Go ahead," Sho urged. "We still have plenty of time before we need to be at the recording studio right?"

Shoko looked at her watch. Indeed they still had more than half an hour to kill until their scheduled reservation since the photo shoot Sho had earlier that day had finished earlier than expected.

"Hmm… Are you going to be alright on your own?"

Sho waved his hand nonchalantly and pulled his hat lower on his head to make sure his hair was covered.

"Okay then, I won't be out long. One of the shops across the street is bound to sell the brand of the moisturizer that I use."

"Take your time. I'll be right here."

Shoko smiled and immediately took her leave.

He watched her through the large glass window until she finally managed to cross the street.

_CRACCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK GOROROROROROGGOORO ZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTTTT_

Everyone inside the café turned around to the loud noise.

Sho's eyebrows shot up as he turned his gaze towards the girl. He had been watching her ever since she came into the café and this only intensified his curiosity over her.

**xoxo**

"Thank you for your p-purchase," the young man stuttered, an obvious blush in his face as he pushed the tray containing her cappuccino towards her.

Setsu simply nodded at him, oblivious to the blush on his face, and made her way to an empty table without another word.

_CRACCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK GOROROROROROGGOORO ZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTTTT_

Almost everyone in her vicinity had turned towards her and the loud sound of her cell phone. The sound of thunderbolts continued to ring until she answered the incoming call.

It was her brother.

"Hi," she said and can't help but let out a small smile.

"_Hey, Setsu. Where are you?"_

"I'm in a café across the shopping district you mentioned."

"_Oh? Did you have fun shopping?"_

"Yes, I bought quite a bit. I hope you don't mind."

"_Of course not. Are you feeling okay?"_

"Yes. I told you earlier I would've been fine to come with you."

There was a pause in the other end and while Setsu waited for her brother to speak, a guy suddenly slipped into the empty seat across from her on her table.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Nii-san, what time are you coming home tonight?"

"_Around dinner."_

"Where are you eating?"

"_I'm not sure."_

"Then I'll have food ready for you when you get home."

"_Okay. I'll call you again later. I have to go back to work."_

"Okay. I love you nii-san," she said with a little smile for her brother although her eyes never left the person in front of her.

"_I love you too… Setsu."_

Setsu's smile was immediately wiped away from her features when she ended the call and pocketed her cell phone.

"Yes?"

Sho raised a brow at her. The sudden change on the look of her face and her tone of voice was apparent.

"Who is this 'nii-san' supposed to be?" he asked before sipping from the straw of his drink which he had brought with him over to her table.

"None of your business. May I help you?"

Sho didn't answer, instead continued to look at her though more closely now. When this girl entered the café, what first caught his attention was how she was dressed. Her hair and gazillion piercings weren't the only things that caught his eye but it was also her way of dressing from the leather knee-high boots to her mini leather skirt to her corset-type tube top. After taking note of all of that, there was also her face.

"Do I know you?" he asked, still scrutinizing her.

"Do I know you?" she threw back with a frown. She didn't like the way he was looking at her but all the more, she didn't like the feelings that was cropping up in the pit of her stomach ever since her eyes landed on him.

The way she was looking at him right at that moment caused something in Sho's head to click.

"You're Kyo-"

"I feel like I should know you," Setsu cut in after finishing her own appraisal of him. "Have we met before?"

Sho's brows were furrowed now. So she wasn't Kyoko? But the way she looked- her face anyway –and even the pitch of her voice were both very Kyoko-like. That is, if you look past the fact that she seemed to be monotonous in speech and that she almost had a lifeless bearing about her. Kyoko was always lively both in speaking and by her actions.

"You don't know me?" he asked, obviously disbelieving. Even if this girl wasn't Kyoko, how can someone of her age not know him? His fan base did cover girls around her age after all and this girl looked to be the same age as him. Although in her defense, she didn't look like the kind of girl who would enjoy the kind of music he makes.

Setsu merely shrugged. She might seem indifferent but her insides were doing jumping jacks and somersaults and other various things that she can't seem to control. This man, whoever he is, was making her feel things she never felt for anyone before…except for her brother. How is that possible?

Not only that, he seem to have triggered a dull ache inside her head as well.

"So you really aren't her then," Sho said in a conclusive voice with an amused look on his face now. He's never met anyone who looked this much like Kyoko and though he knew Kyoko was an actress now, he doubted even she could feign ignorance this well especially towards him. She couldn't even handle it back when she shot his PV with him for _Prisoner_.

'What is this guy even talking about?'

Sho sighed, shook his head and threw a smirk at her.

She felt her chest tighten. What the hell?

"My name is Sho," he introduced with a hand held towards her.

"Setsuka," she introduced in turn and shook it.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen. You?" Why was she even asking? She never conversed this casually with any man before besides her brother.

"I just turned eighteen."

She nodded mutely.

"So, do you live around the area?" he asked and mentally kicked himself. Why was he even interested? This girl was just a random stranger who happened to look like Kyoko and already he was acting like he gave a damn just like he did when Kyoko got into that predicament with the Beagle man.

"Not far from here," she replied simply. "What do you do? Are you still a student?"

"Yes I'm a student. I'm also a singer."

"Hmmm… Really?" she said, sounding quite unimpressed.

This irked him slightly. She really did look and sound like Kyoko right now. Not the old simply- happy-to-be-around-Sho Kyoko but the recent, vengeful, and uncaring Kyoko anyway.

"What do _you_ do?" he shot back, trying to keep his tone pleasant.

Setsu shrugged and took a sip from her drink before answering. "I'm in Japan for a few months with my brother while he shoots his film."

"Your brother's an actor?"

She nodded. "And I'm his manager."

"Then why aren't you with him?" Sho asked with a dubious look.

"He refused to let me come with him. I just got out of the hospital recently."

"I see."

"I really feel like I should know you," Setsu said suddenly. She really can't help but repeat herself. The feelings inside her seem to have grown more over the past few minutes the more she talked with him.

Sho sighed and shrugged as well. "I feel like I know you too. You look a lot like a close friend of mine."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "You even have the same voice."

"You insult me by comparing me to the Japanese," she commented in English now.

Sho gave her a surprised and puzzled look in which she only shook her head indicating she can't be bothered to explain herself.

"So you're half American?"

"British. Only a quarter though. But my brother and I grew up England."

"What's your brother's name?"

"Cain."

"Cain…?"

Damn this girl was too vague and unhelpful for her own good. He was getting tired of always being the one to throw the questions.

"Cain Heel."

"So your full name is Setsuka Heel?"

She nodded.

_BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!_

Sho jumped at the loud sound, as did his neighbors except for Setsu who had simply reached into her small purse to take out her cell phone.

She clicked a button to stop the sound from coming up again a second time. It was her alarm which had the sound of an exploding bomb. She had set it earlier to mark the time for her to go home.

"I have to go," she announced before handing her cell phone to Sho. "Put your address in. I want to see you again."

He was surprised at this. Was this a British thing? To be so forward? Although he didn't completely believe she was a quarter British or any other kind of "quarter" for that matter seeing as she looked completely Japanese to him, she did seem sincere about everything she had said to him earlier. Including the part when she said she didn't know him.

It didn't take long for him to decide on what to do.

Sho took her cell and typed in his e-mail address.

"I usually can't answer calls since I'm busy most of the time so I'll just give you my e-mail."

Setsu nodded and took her phone back and pocketed it without even checking what he had typed in.

"I gotta go. See you," she said curtly before picking up her three large shopping bags from the floor and exiting the café without a backwards glance.

'So that really wasn't Kyoko then?' Sho thought to himself, a frown now on his face as he watched the girl walk out and headed down the sidewalk until she completely disappeared from his view.

He took out his cell phone and scrolled down to Kyoko's number and clicked on it.

"_The number you have dialed is not in service or is out of coverage area, please try-"_

Frustrated, Sho closed his phone with a swift flip and pocketed it.

He had been calling Kyoko's cell phone almost everyday for two weeks now but she never picked up and lately he can't even reach her number at all. What was she playing at? And how dare she make him come after her like this?!

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

I'd like to thank everyone who took time to leave me reviews! I love knowing what you guys think.

'Til the next update!

**RaNe**


	4. Rekindled

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**"Rekindled"**

* * *

"Ren? Are you okay?"

He nodded and cracked his neck in response.

"Stress? I haven't seen you look this tired in a while," Yashiro pointed out worriedly. As his manager and friend, he can't have him getting sick or anything close to it as much as possible. "Is your role in _Tragic Marker_ getting too much?" he asked in a much lower voice. No one but the LME president, Ten, Kyoko and himself knew about his role as Cain Heel and BJ after all.

Ren shook his head. "It's not that. If anything, acting as Cain Heel on set is helping me de-stress," he admitted. "Most of my scenes as BJ consist of only acting out action sequences and it helps me not think about other things."

They were both currently walking down the hallway of TBM Studios, heading towards Ren's dressing room until they call him for that night's scheduled interview for a new TV show.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Setsu," Ren said followed by a prolonged sigh.

"Kyoko?" Yashiro asked in surprise. He hadn't seen the girl since the day she was discharged when Ren brought her into Ten's room to to get lessons on how to put on makeup. "What's going on with her?"

"Not much, it's just stressful always acting as Cain Heel around her that's all," he evaded. If he gave even the slightest hint about what he and Kyoko were doing behind closed doors, he was sure his manager will never let it go. The man had been teasing him enough about his feelings for Kyoko as it is. If he gave him an incentive, he'll never hear the end of it.

"I thought it would be easier by now. I mean, you two are only siblings. How hard could it be?"

"Yeah…"

"You haven't done anything un-sibling-like, have you?"

Ren already noted Yashiro's tone. It was both curious and accusatory.

"We're just acting as Heel siblings do," he told him truthfully although it didn't mean much since being part of the Heel siblings meant almost like acting as lovers. Setsu's complex for her brother and vice versa was created to border on incest from the very beginning.

The current Setsu seemed to not have any problem with their increasingly scandalous relationship either.

It's been two weeks since the accident and a week or so now since he'd been living everyday life as Cain Heel and sleeping in the same bed as his supposed sister.

Not only was Setsu getting even more extreme- if that were even possible –but she seem to be losing her true identity as well. Or maybe it was just him. He wasn't sure which one it was yet but one thing's for sure, he's been seeing less and less of the real Kyoko whenever he sees her.

**xoxo**

Setsu tapped her heeled boots on the pavement and waited patiently.

It didn't take long though for her ride had just driven up and stopped right in front of her.

The cream colored van with the words _Akatoki Agency_ painted across the side was still rumbling as the door slid open to reveal Sho.

The sky above head had already begun to darken indicating dusk was nearing so Setsu didn't understand why the man was wearing a hat and heavily tinted sunglasses. It was just like that first time they met at the café days ago. He was wearing a hat while indoors and a scarf around his neck back then.

Was the man that famous that he had to cover himself up every time?

"Get in."

Setsu did as he said and jumped inside.

Besides the driver, there was a woman in there too, seated at the back seat behind Sho.

"Setsuka Heel," Sho introduced mildly. "Shoko Aki, my manager."

"Setsu," she greeted with a brisk nod.

Shoko looked at the girl in surprise but nodded back. She looked like a punk princess and though that was surprising enough, so was her uncanny likeness to a certain girl she already knew Sho to like. She shot Sho a look, showing him her amusement.

He merely shrugged and sat back onto his chair and pulling Setsu beside him.

"Where are we going?" Setsu asked. She had asked this through e-mail more than three times that day already but he still never told her.

She had been in contact with Sho for a few days now. They only exchanged mail occasionally though since neither of them seems to have the patience to do so too much. One of those casual mails was the precise reason why she got into this situation. She normally doesn't get frightened easily even if she does get into an unknown van with a guy she barely knew. But she felt even less frightened because it was Sho.

Ever since their meeting, she had been contemplating more and more about the guy and about her own odd reactions towards him.

None of it made sense to her.

But she somehow- though she didn't understand it still –trusted him to a degree. She had the gut feeling she was safe around him at least.

"TBM," he replied simply.

"TBM?"

"TBM Studios. I'm a guest for one of the TV programs being shot there today and I want you to see it firsthand from the audience."

"Why?"

Sho could feel the corner of his eye twitch. Why? She asks him _why_? She should be thanking him profusely for the honor! Not just for being able to be in the audience to see him but also for personally inviting her to come. Although he didn't drive the van, he even came to pick her up from her place and offered to send her home afterwards as well!

He shrugged. "You seem to not be entirely convinced of my popularity. It was obvious in your messages."

"Does it matter?"

'To me it does,' he grumbled in his head. He didn't know why this girl's opinion mattered to him either.

**xoxo**

"That didn't take as long," Yashiro commented thoughtfully as he came up to Ren on the set. "I thought it would take longer than normal seeing as the show's new. I expected them to squeeze every single detail they could think of from you as much as they could to boost their ratings."

Ren gave him an I'm-glad-they-didn't look.

Both men thanked the host and the producers of the show and took their leave.

"Are you going back to Kyoko-chan now?"

He couldn't help but smile. She would certainly be pleasantly surprised to see him come home early. He'd been coming home late every single day and had been leaving her to her own devices since they started living together.

His smile didn't come unnoticed.

"Rennnnn," Yashiro started in a teasing manner.

"What?"

"You really aren't doing anything with Kyoko-chan, are you?"

**xoxo**

_CRACCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK GOROROROROROGGOORO ZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTTTT_

People nearby turned to gawk at her.

Setsu ignored them and pulled out her cell, a smile already playing in the corner of her lips. She knew it can only be one person since the only ones she was in contact with was her brother and Sho. Sho never called since the guy didn't know her number, only her e-mail, and he was currently on the stage getting his makeup retouched while the show was in the middle of a break.

"Nii-san?" she greeted just as she jumped down the bleachers.

"_Setsu, I'm already d- Where are you?"_

She covered her free ear with a finger just as the crowd started clapping. The program was resuming.

"Nii-san? What did you say?" Setsu repeated as she quickly made her way outside the large studio room.

"_Where are you?"_

"I'm with a friend. He brought me to this TV station kind of place and-"

"Kyoko-chan?"

Setsu looked up at the familiar voice and the all-too familiar name she was called yet again.

"Yashiro-san?" She was surprised to see the man there in his usual suit and holding onto two bottles of water. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Yashiro asked at precisely the same moment.

**xoxo**

Ren froze. Why was Yashiro talking to Kyoko? She's here? At TBM? And what did she mean she's with a _friend_? What friend?

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_What are you doing here?"_

There was a pause on the other end as both of them spoke. Ren pressed his cell even closer to his ear.

"_Aren't you supposed to be with nii-san?"_

"_Uhhh… Yes."_

"_Why are you here?"_

'Lie,' Ren thought, willing his manager to think of something convincing quick.

"_I… I'm here to pick something up."_

'Good enough,' Ren thought with a nod.

"_Oh, for nii-san?"_

"_No. Uhmm… For another client."_

"_You work with someone else other than my nii-san?"_

He caught the disapproving tone of her voice. By the way she was speaking, he can already tell she was frowning.

"_If you're busy with someone else, I can always resume to being nii-san's manager."_

Before Yashiro could say another word however, she had already resumed talking to him into the cell.

"_Nii-san? Yashiro-san is here with me."_

"I heard. What are you doing at TBM?"

"_A friend of mine brought me here."_

"Who?"

"_Sho-kun."_

"Sho?"

His incredulity had slipped into his voice. He couldn't help it and he didn't care if it was not Cain Heel-like at all. What was going on? Didn't she have amnesia? How in the world did she get into contact with _him_ of all people? Does she remember him then? She remembers Fuwa Sho but not Tsuruga Ren?

"_Nii-san?"_

He had noticed her using her cell phone more frequently lately but he thought that was because she was simply bored and was playing games or browsing the internet on it or something. Not once had he thought or even had any suspicion that she was in contact with someone else, let alone Fuwa Sho.

"_Nii-san?"_

Ren shook his head.

"Yes," he replied stiffly.

"_What were you saying when you called?"_

"I was saying I was about to head home. I wrapped up early today."

"_Really? Then I'll cook for you. I never had the chance to prepare your evening meals lately."_

"But you're-"

"_I'll head home right now."_

"What about your _friend_?" Ren asked, trying to keep the resentment from his voice.

"_Nii-san comes first. I'll see you in a little while."_

**xoxo**

Yashiro fidgeted uncomfortably as he waited for Kyoko to finish her call which was clear to him now, with Ren.

He watched her talk casually to her phone with a hint of a smile on her face. It was obvious then that she was happy talking to Ren…or Cain, rather. She looked like a girl in love.

Wait, that didn't make any sense. A girl in love? She was supposed to be Cain's _sister_, not his lover. What kind of relationship did the Heel siblings have anyway?

Before Yashiro could even contemplate any further, however, his thoughts were cut off by Kyoko snapping her fingers in front of his face.

"Yashiro-san?" she repeated and snapped her fingers again, quite rudely so too.

"Yes? Err… Setsu-san?"

"I'll talk to nii-san about resuming my duties as his manager," she informed him matter-of-factly. "Being a manager to two people must be rough and I'm perfectly fine now."

"I-"

"It'll be fine," Setsu interjected after seeing the worried expression on his face. "I'll talk to nii-san about it."

That wasn't entirely his main concern but he sighed and nodded all the same. If there's one thing he had learned from conversing with "Setsu" it's that her character was obstinate especially when her brother was involved.

"So where are you going now?"

"Home. Nii-san is coming home too," she said with another of her rare small smiles. He only ever sees her have that look on her face when she's with her "brother" or when she speaks of him.

"What about Fuwa-kun's show?" Yashiro asked, pointing at the double doors behind her.

Setsu merely shrugged, obviously unconcerned before turning around to leave.

**xoxo**

"What do you mean she left?" Sho asked, perplexed and disbelieving.

Shoko tossed his cell phone over to him.

"I ran into her while I was by the vending machines. She didn't say anything but bye though. So I'm guessing that unread mail in your phone would be her explanation. She seemed to be in a hurry."

"Did she even watch the show?" he grumbled, frowning.

Trying very hard to hide the amusement from showing on her face, Shoko nodded. "She was there for most of the show. I saw her clearly enough from where I was standing."

Sho didn't reply. He didn't mean to voice that question aloud but all the same, he was glad she at least stayed long enough to see most of his greatness. She didn't get to see and hear his performance in the end though. That was what he was counting on for her to see the most, his singing.

He frowned yet again and checked his mail.

_-x-_

_Fr: "Setsuka Heel" AKA Kyoko look-alike_

_Subj: GTG_

_[6:29 PM] – Going home. Thanks for today._

_-x-_

'That's it?' he thought incredulously. Not even an explanation or an attempt to give one?

Irritated, he threw his phone onto the couch of his dressing room.

'That girl is unbelievable!'

**xoxo**

_CLICK_

Setsu quickly stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind her.

The room inside was pitch black.

'So I still arrived before nii-san.'

Groping her way around, she managed to click on the main power switch that lit up all the lights in the living room and the kitchen area.

"N-Nii-san!"

She didn't jump in surprise but she was still startled to see him lying on the couch, his entire body stretched out.

Ren opened an eye to peak over at her.

"Welcome home," he greeted.

Setsu smiled and made her way over towards him. It was only then that she noticed the large bucket of chicken from KFC on the coffee table in front of him.

She frowned.

"I said I'll cook dinner for you," she reminded.

"I bought enough for us both so you won't have to cook."

That didn't exactly resolve her predicament of not getting to cook for him but she nodded in understanding. Perhaps her brother got hungry on the way home.

She leaned over the bucket and counted eight pieces of chicken inside. That's a bit too much for two people.

"Setsu…"

"Yes, nii-san?"

"About earlier, I need for you to explain."

"Explain what?" she replied casually, still inspecting the food and wondering if she should prepare rice with it or some mashed potatoes.

"About what you were doing with _him_."

Setsu was surprised at the tone her brother had taken with her. She turned to look at him. The look on his face was as cold as his voice.

"Nii-san?"

"Answer me Setsu. What were you doing with _him_?"

Ren sat up from the couch and was now practically looming over her crouched form on the floor.

What was going on? Setsu could feel her head start to pound and her chest tighten just like that time when she met Sho for the first time. Only the feeling right now seemed somewhat worse because she was also feeling… Sad? Worried? Afraid?

All the negatory feelings weren't lost on her. Why was she feeling such things for her brother?

And why was her brother looking so intimidating to her right now?

"Nii-san?" she repeated once again, this time in a much smaller voice as she continued looking into his intense gaze.

"Setsu," Ren said in a warning tone now. His patience was wearing out that even her rattled expression wasn't enough to appease him. "Answer me."

It took a full minute for him to finally realize that she was neither going to answer his question nor was she going to say anything at all for that matter.

The spell broke between them when a loud howling of a wolf erupted from the purse Setsu dropped by her feet.

_AAAWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…_

It was the tone set on her phone for incoming e-mails or texts. She already knew who it was.

And apparently, so did her brother when his glare intensified. He suddenly bent down and picked up her purse.

"Nii-san, that is-"

"Fuwa Sho, I'm guessing?" he interrupted flatly before his eyes landed on the name on the cell phone screen after he took it out.

It really was him.

Ren can't control himself now. The rage that had been burning inside him ever since he found out that she was with Sho had intensified to a blazing inferno.

Setsu made to take the phone from him but he was too quick.

He held up the phone away from her reach.

"Why are you in contact with this guy?"

Their broken eye contact earlier- all thanks to her cell -had also broken her fear. There was no reason to fear her own brother. She can't even understand why she felt afraid only moments earlier. If anything, she was amused now.

"He's a new friend I made a few days ago."

"When and where exactly?"

"That day I went shopping for new sleeping clothes. I went into a café for a drink and he came up to me."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. He just introduced himself."

"And you've been in contact ever since?"

Setsu nodded. Why was he so angry? Her relationship with Sho was harmless. She only met the guy after all.

"He invited you to TBM?"

She nodded again.

"You trusted him enough to go with him so easily and willingly?"

"Y-Yes," she admitted, a pink tinge in her cheeks now. She still can't understand her feelings for Sho. She still had her misgivings about him but she felt like he was a part of her or something. She found that thought and feeling ridiculous since she only met him recently but that's really how he was for her.

The look on her face was Ren's undoing. He felt his supposedly rested feelings of Hizuri Kuon from weeks ago rise up within him yet again.

He grabbed Setsu by the arms and pulled her up to the couch and pinned her down onto its cushions.

"What's with that look on your face?" he asked menacingly, his hatred completely on the surface now.

Setsu simply frowned at him, oblivious to what exactly her brother was feeling at the moment. She understood he was angry but she didn't know why. She guessed it was because she was out with another man. Her brother's protectiveness over her was as intense as her own for him after all but even that wouldn't elicit such a response from his usually cool-headed brother. I mean, simply hanging out was nothing to be this mad over.

So this could only mean one thing then?

"Nii-san," she said in a more placating voice. "What's wrong exactly?"

Setsu slowly slid her hands up her brother's arms, gave his shoulders a light squeeze before wrapping her own arms around his neck. Her fingers immediately found its way through his hair and started playing with it from behind.

Ren froze at her touch at the same time felt his anger lessen perceptibly.

"Nii-san?" she asked once again, this time in a silkier manner.

"Setsu…"

"Hmm?"

She was smiling wickedly up at him.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I hope you enjoyed this!

When I wrote this story (it's already done actually. I just need to proof read the rest of the chapters) I had thought of making it (along with the characters) as canon as possible. But if you think "Setsu wouldn't do that!" and etc., just consider the fact that deep down, she's actually still Kyoko so there will obviously be little things that slip out from time to time (though she doesn't realize it) since she's in the middle of trying to regain her memories.

Thought I ought to say that.

That said, I'll see you all in the next chapter!

**RaNe**


	5. Recollection

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

My bad. This upload came a bit late. There was a bit of a mix-up from the last chapter.

Here's chapter five though! Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**"Recollection"**

* * *

'This couldn't be happening,' thought Ren. 'How could I let us get to this kind of position… Again?'

Although their current state right now was nowhere as…bold, as that time weeks ago in their old apartment where Kyoko ended up giving him a poorly made hickey, this position was still very much compromising.

He supposed he should be thankful because it was this that brought him back to Earth- much like the last time –and back to his own senses. Not that it helped much since he was close to giving in to his urges over his "sister" once again.

After their past experience, Ren knew all too well what would happen. Only, with this version of Setsuka, he had the gut feeling they'd both find it harder to stop at only giving each other hickeys.

"Setsu," he said warningly and quite hoarsely.

"Yes, nii-san?" she replied, still smiling up at him.

"We have to talk about this relationship of yours with Fuwa Sho," he said, not looking at her but at one of the piercings in her ear instead.

"Why?"

"Because it's making me curious."

"Only curious?"

"What do you mean?"

Setsu pulled him down further by the neck until he was near enough to hear her very low whisper.

"You're not asking because you're actually burning with jealousy?"

Ren pulled back slightly and shifted his gaze back to her.

She was smiling widely at him now, obviously pleased with herself to catch him feeling such a thing over her sake.

He glared at her in return.

"I don't want you going out to see him again," he said firmly and ignoring her last statement.

Setsu could feel a chill run down her spine at the dark look he was giving her. Not only that, but she could feel her head start pounding again as well as her heart. It felt like both parts of her body were having a competition as to which can cause her more discomfort at the moment.

"Why not? We're only friends," she admitted, trying to keep her voice straight which was getting harder to do. She even turned her head to see if this would alleviate the pain even by just a little.

It didn't. Not that it mattered anyway since her dear brother wouldn't let her.

With a growl, he made her look back at him by holding her by the chin.

"You won't go meet with him again," he repeated more seriously.

She couldn't take it anymore. The pounding in her head was going to knock her unconscious if it doesn't stop anytime soon. Her pounding heart wasn't getting any more comfortable either.

"Nii-san," Setsu whispered as she pulled back one of her arms and started to slowly and gently caress the side of his face. She ran her thumb across his lower lip. "Nii-san," she repeated in an even fainter whisper. She could hear her voice break from the pain in her head. "C-Can I kiss you?"

Startled by this question and the manner she said it which sounded like a moan to him, Ren only needed to blink back his surprise before noticing her eyes faze and her hold around his neck slacken.

Setsu fainted.

**xoxo**

"I'm perfectly fine," Setsu insisted with her arms crossed.

Ren frowned at her before nodding at the man and woman who were looking from her to him in turn.

"Thank you for your help. I'll take her to the hospital myself if needed," he told them with a smile.

At that moment, he might look like Cain Heel, but he didn't even bother with the pretense after Kyoko fainted. This was a serious situation after all.

After she passed out on him an hour ago, he had immediately called for an ambulance. But as soon as the paramedics checked up on her, she just as quickly regained consciousness. The pair who had come in with a gurney prepared was baffled by this but gave her a quick checkup all the same and suggested to take her to the hospital to have a doctor thoroughly check her out.

Much to Setsu's displeasure.

The paramedics had to hide their surprise at the smile Ren gave them. To be honest, they were terrified when the large and rather dark man opened the apartment to let them in. He had a frightful and terrorizing look on his face all the while they checked out Setsu and only regained his composure when they announced she seemed fit enough to even walk to the hospital if she liked.

Setsu frowned at her brother, surprised by the look he had on his face. Was he actually smiling? Smiling at other people besides herself? He only reserved that look for her and no one else. Was it the woman?

She shot the woman a glare.

"Well then, we better go."

Ren nodded and thanked them once more before leading them out of Setsu's bedroom and out the apartment.

She waited for her brother's return which didn't come until half an hour later.

"Nii-san, what were you-"

Setsu was ready to argue with him and interrogate his weird behavior earlier when she saw him bring in a tray with a bowl of hot soup.

"You haven't had anything for dinner. Eat," he instructed simply.

Her worries and suspicions completely forgotten, she nodded and smiled up at him in thanks.

Ren sat at the foot of her bed all the while as she continued to eat and it was only when she finished every single drop that he finally spoke up.

"How's your head?"

She shrugged. "Like I kept saying earlier, I'm fine."

"You fainted, Setsu," he pointed out.

"I'm aware of that," she said with a sigh. "It's nothing really. It's just my head was pounding really badly and I couldn't take it anymore. It has happened before ever since my hospitalization but not as strongly and as long as the one I had earlier. I don't know why that is either."

A confused looked crossed her face.

"What is it?"

"What happened before I passed out?"

Ren had to keep his jaw form falling. Cain Heel doesn't gape.

"You forgot?"

She shrugged. "I remember talking with you on the sofa. You had a most menacing look on your face too."

Ren noted that she had a smile as she said that. He sighed. And here he thought he had terrified her enough to send her running. He even felt bad about it but seems like that shouldn't even be the case.

"The very last thing I remember was asking you why I can't see Sho-kun again and telling you that he and I were just friends."

He had half a mind to start telling her not to see the guy again but he held his tongue. He didn't want to stress her out or get himself back into a temper which would surely happen if they start discussing the likes of Fuwa Sho.

"You don't remember what you said or did right before you passed out?"

Setsu gave him a confused look. "Did I do or say something more?"

Ren shook his head and pulled the tray away from her.

"Don't worry about it. Now go ahead and rest."

She was still confused but nodded all the same.

**xoxo**

"_She fainted?"_

"Yes."

"_And she didn't remember part of your conversation before she did?"_

"Yes."

There was silence.

"What does this mean?"

Dr. Asano was silent for a few more seconds before he finally replied.

"_You have to bring her back to the hospital Tsuruga-san so we can check on her condition properly. I can't tell for sure unless you do."_

"Do you think there will be any complications tonight though?"

"_I don't believe so. Make sure she sleeps propped up by a few pillows just in case though. If she said she remembered her head aching before she fainted, then it'll be better to relieve the pressure from building there any further."_

"I understand."

Ren tossed his cell onto the coffee table, let his face fall to his palms, and sighed.

This was all getting too much. When was it going to end? Not that he had a problem being around Kyoko almost 24/7 but being with her while she thinks she's Setsu and while there's obviously something going wrong inside her head took away a big part of the happiness he felt from being with her.

There was also the issue of her being in contact with Sho.

All the cons in this entire situation were overshadowing the pros.

Plus, it was getting harder and harder for him to control himself around her.

"Nii-san?"

Startled at the proximity of her voice but didn't show it, Ren lowered his hands and sat upright.

Setsu was standing there, in her usual night garments which comprised of a too-thin sleeveless top and a teeny-tiny pair of shorts. All the sleeping clothes she bought that day she went shopping were of this variety and yet another reason why Ren was suffering every night.

He lifted his gaze up towards her immediately as he always did when she was dressed this way.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What's wrong?"

She shook her head and held out her hand.

"Let's go to bed."

Ren nodded and laced his fingers with hers as they made their way to their bedroom. He had long since resigned to the fact that they had to sleep together every since she'd been sneaking into his bed for the first three nights.

"By the way, I've been meaning to tell you," she began as they started pulling back the covers to his bed, "I told Yashiro-san I would go back to being your manager. He has another client anyway and I'm perfectly f-"

"You're not perfectly fine Setsu."

"I am," she countered defensively.

"You fainted," he reminded her once again.

She gave him a disgruntled look but remained silent as they settled closely next to each other on the large mattress.

"Give me time to think about it."

Setsu sighed. "Okay."

"You're going for a checkup at the hospital, and the sooner the better too. If the doctor says you're perfectly fine, as you claim to be, then it'll be in your favor."

It looked like she was ready to argue about going to the hospital but the look he gave her made it impossible.

"I want only what's best for you," he said, raising her head by the chin again so she could see the concerned look on his face.

She gave him an agreeing smile and a peck on the cheek before wrapping her arms around him and cuddling against his neck.

Ren sighed. He can't deny that he's gotten used to this part of their night time routine.

"Good night." He kissed the top of her head.

"Good night, nii-san," she whispered back against his neck and relaxing against him.

Her hot breath that tickled the sensitive skin of his nape shot a bolt through Ren that did the total opposite of relaxing him.

Frustrated, he forced his eyes shut and gripped her by the shoulders even tighter against him.

**xoxo**

"What can you recall before the accident took place?"

Setsu paused and looked thoughtful for a moment. "My family of course and also the little things I guess, like my favorite food and my choice in clothing and stuff like that."

Dr. Asano nodded. "What about recently? Ever since you got discharged, have you experienced any weird pains at all?"

"My bruises are all healed now but my head does ache at specific times."

"Oh?" he asked, his interest caught. "When does it ache exactly?"

"It isn't consistent," Setsu replied with a shrug. "I noticed it tends to happen more severely whenever I get too emotional though."

"For example…?" Dr. Asano pressed on.

"The first time I got a pounding in my head since I got discharged was when I met this guy, Sho."

"What happened then?"

"I can't really explain it. My head started pounding when he gave me this look. He was smirking at me and then I could feel my chest tighten and my headache slowly getting worse."

"Is this Sho a friend of yours?"

"The time I first got my headache was the first I met him. But… I feel like I know him though. Or rather I feel like I should know him. Does that make sense?"

Dr. Asano gave her a reassuring smile and jotted more notes on his clipboard. Hardly anything ever makes sense to amnesia patients so he understood her feeling of frustration and confusion very well. But seeing as Setsu refused to admit she even has amnesia, it was harder to pacify the girl to the actual truth.

"It will make sense sooner or later once you get your emotions and your thoughts sorted out."

Setsu continued to frown. That didn't really make any sense to her. Did she have anything to sort out? All she wanted was to get rid of the random headaches.

"When else had the aches happened?"

"When I was with my brother."

"What happened then?"

She shrugged. "I can't even recall much of what happened that night. One moment we were almost arguing over something and the next, I woke up in my bed to a pair of paramedics looking me over."

"What did you last feel right before you lost consciousness that time?"

"I was pinned to the couch by my brother. I was happy."

Dr. Asano almost choked at this statement, which was quite impressive since he wasn't even eating or drinking anything at the moment. All there was in his mouth was his own saliva.

"Excuse me?"

"I was happy that time," she repeated looking quite serious, "and excited too I guess. My brother was frustrated over me being with Sho so we kind of argued about it. One thing led to another and I was beneath him.

"I… I see."

She nodded. "I like being close with nii-san."

He made another note.

"After all these aches, did you ever recall anything new from your past?"

This was an odd question that Setsu had to stop and actually think for a while.

After she met Sho in that café, she immediately felt safer and more secure with him but that didn't really have anything to do with her past since she only met him. Her cooking skills have gotten exceedingly better overtime as well. At least that's what her brother told her. There was also that one day when she suddenly thought how much she hated Beagles. That was something she didn't particularly understand but she did feel an intense passion against that breed of dogs.

Setsu told the doctor all this though she thought she sounded weird now.

"After that knock-out incident a few nights ago, well…" she was thoughtful again.

Now that she's actually making an effort to think about it, she supposed there were a lot of new things that came to mind after she had fainted.

"I can perform the traditional Japanese tea ceremony well," she muttered, frowning. She didn't understand why thought she can do it but she only just realized that she knew now. "I also remember having a scar here before," she added, touching the left hand corner of her temple. "It was a big ugly scar too."

Dr. Asano nodded and continued to write everything she was saying. The notes he was making was starting to get even more and more nonsensical each time she spoke.

"I remember the name 'Queen Rosa' and… Corn."

Setsu stopped. She was staring off into space now with her face blank.

"Setsuka-san?"

"Corn," she repeated in an almost ethereal voice.

It was only a few seconds later that she finally snapped out of it and it was only because of the throbbing in her head. She had tried too hard to remember.

She didn't know why she desperately wanted to remember either. Who or what is this 'Corn' that got into her memories? Was it her memory? And why did she feel happy and sad at the same time whenever she said the word in her head?

"Okay," interrupted Dr. Asano with a kind look on his face. "That'll be all for today."

"Will… Will I be fine then?" she asked, still trying to refocus onto the present.

"Yes. The memories you're remembering is just the beginning Setsuka-san."

"Beginning?"

"Like what we've told you before and I think you've realized by now although you refused to admit it back then, you lost your memories. Think about it, there are gaps in your thoughts right? Try to remember a particular memory when you were, let's say, ten years old."

Setsu frowned and tried to do as he said. Her frown only intensified.

"See?" he said, giving her a look. "Well, the memories you've been recalling lately are your memories triggered by the headaches you've been getting. I know it's uncomfortable but the more you get those aches, the more you seem to remember."

"So you want me to get more headaches?"

The doctor chuckled.

"Don't force yourself. It'll happen and when it does, you'll remember even more afterwards. That's only my theory for your case though. Patients who suffer from amnesia vary in terms of memory loss and memory recollection."

She nodded, still confused but understanding at the same time.

"For now, just take it easy. Things will come back to you in its own time."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Thank you to all my dear readers, especially to those who left a review!

Also, as I mentioned in my other ongoing story **Mending Mistakes**, I'll be going on a 4-day trip this weekend. I'll be updating this story once more before then though since this story is more far along than the other one.

So... 'Til then, see ya!

**RaNe**


	6. Reminder

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**"Reminder"**

* * *

By the time Setsu was allowed to leave, it was already past lunch. She only realized this since her stomach started growling rather fiercely and her cell phone indicated it was almost an hour after noon.

Her cell phone also said she had two unread e-mails.

_-x-_

_Fr: Fuwa Sho_

_Subj: …_

_[9:03 AM] – You still never replied to my last message days ago._

___-x-_

_Fr: Cain Nii-san :)_

_Subj: Doctor's Appointment_

_[11:41 AM] – Are you done with the checkup? What did the doctor say?_

_I'm about to go back to the set to resume filming so I can't pick up if you call. Just give me your reply through mail. I'll call you later._

_P.S. – Stop being mad at me for finally forcing you to get a checkup._

___-x-_

Setsu replied to her brother first and told him the generalized result of her appointment. She wanted to tell him everything but that only proved to be impossible unless she intended to send him a couple of paragraphs in return.

Her reply to Sho on the other hand was a quick apology. So it greatly surprised her when she immediately got a reply in return.

_-x-_

_Fr: Fuwa Sho_

_Subj: x_

_[12:47 PM] – I see._

_You still owe me for ditching before the show was over that night._

___-x-_

Biting her lip, her mind started reeling. That night she fainted, she remembered her brother telling her to not see Sho again but she can't remember ever agreeing to it. They never discussed the issue afterwards either.

That thought aside, she wanted to see Sho and not only for the weird giddy feelings she got from his presence, but also because of what her doctor just told her. He did say the more headaches she got, the more she will remember and she did tell him that she got those aches when her emotions went haywire. So far only Sho and her brother got her emotions all riled up that much so… Why not?

This will kill two birds with one stone.

**xoxo**

Sho dragged his feet on top of the small coffee table in his dressing room and leaned even further against the back of the couch.

He was beat. Only half of the day was over and he was exhausted.

His cell phone rang again.

"Now she replies fast," muttered sarcastically.

_-x-_

_Fr: "Setsuka Heel" AKA Kyoko look-alike_

_Subj: Lunch_

_[12:49 PM] – Have you eaten yet?_

_If you haven't, let's go have lunch together._

___-x-_

'This woman,' he thought, shaking his head.

Setsuka Heel has been nothing but confusing to him. Her very existence was already proving to stress Sho out although why, he still didn't know. He was still at a loss as to why he even let the girl get under his skin so much.

As hard put as he was to deny it, he knew he was first attracted to her because of her resemblance to Kyoko. But now that it seemed almost impossible for her to be Kyoko, he didn't know why he was still hanging over her.

Maybe it was his childhood friend's disappearance that pushed him to act this way over her doppelganger? So he's using Setsu as her replacement?

He scrolled through the phonebook once more- as he always did at least once every other day –and clicked on the familiar name. He'd been doing this so much recently, he was close to memorizing her number.

"_The number you have dialed is not in service or is out of co-"_

He flipped his cell phone to a close.

**xoxo**

Setsu walked into the restaurant and immediately spotted Sho. He had raised an arm up at her direction and he was also the only one in there who was wearing an overly large hat that almost fell over his eyes.

She nodded in recognition and made her way towards him.

"You got here fast," he commented as soon as she got near enough.

"Same goes to you," Setsu replied before taking a seat.

Sho looked at her up and down and noticed she was still wearing her preferred dark, punk rock look which was nearly similar to his own style. Hers, however, was a level higher seeing as she had certain piercings even he didn't.

Vaguely, he wondered if she had any tattoos too.

"What?" she asked, deftly cutting off his reverie.

"Nothing," he replied curtly. "I took the liberty of ordering by the way. I figured you'd be hungry by the time you got here. I didn't think I could wait any longer either."

Setsu shrugged, as she always did when if the present situation didn't really matter to her.

Again, this irked Sho. How indifferent can she get? He had thought about showing her that he wasn't the kind of person to be coming onto her at her every beck and call. He was a famous celebrity after all.

When the food arrived, neither had said a word to the other not only because they were preoccupied with getting food into their mouths but also because Setsu didn't seem at all too keen on talking either. She seemed already content and quite comfortable just sitting there.

Sho had already attempted a conversation thrice before he finally gave up.

They may have only met recently but he had long since understood the girl wasn't much for words. Heck, she wasn't much for smiling or any other facial expression besides blankness and frowns either.

But this was getting too much for him to handle.

He put down his spoon and fork with an audible clink.

Setsu looked up at him.

"What's wrong?"

Sho didn't know how this girl grew up to become like this but it was all too baffling. She didn't even seem at all affected by the awkward silence between them through the course of the meal which was still far from being over.

"You're a bit weird, did you know that?"

Her brows shot up.

Sho thought that was an improvement. At least he knew knew her eyebrows could move to form a different expression on her face.

"How am I weird?"

"You're emotionless," he admitted bluntly, letting out his frustration.

Why he even let himself get this frustrated, again, he had no idea. For now, he still blames her physical likeness to Kyoko.

For one thing, he knew Setsu's passiveness irked him in ways he didn't expect because Kyoko was the total opposite. That girl had always been transparent with her emotions and although she had long since stopped showing her adoration for him and had only been showing hostility towards him, she still showed her feelings like an open book nonetheless.

"I'm not," she countered although looking quite unaffected as she did.

He sighed. "Yes you are, I can even prove it," he said offhandedly.

Setsu shrugged.

This blasé gesture was his undoing.

Sitting up, Sho looked around him for something to prove to the girl that his accusation was correct. Maybe then he can finally get a normal response from her.

When his eyes landed on his drinking glass, he purposefully hit it with the back of his hand and sent it crashing to the floor.

The people near them jumped and turned to their direction.

Setsu didn't even flinch instead she continued to look at Sho, then blinked, then looked down at the mess where a waiter had already rushed in to clean up.

"See?" Sho said with a snort, shaking his head.

"I don't see," she replied, looking at him curiously.

He had to keep himself from gawking at her.

Looking around once again, he spotted an empty chair from a nearby table and pulled it closer towards him before he took off his boots and stretched his legs over it with his ankles crossed in a relaxed manner.

Even more people around them started to stare.

Sho gave her a look. She shrugged yet again.

"Normal people," he said, gesturing to the room at large, "would have shown surprise and would have been horrified at these two things." His manner of explaining this was as if he was lecturing an errant child.

She nodded mutely.

He sighed, giving up.

Right when Sho lowered his legs and started wearing his boots, a middle-aged but pretty woman cleared her throat, getting both their attention.

"Excuse me, sir," she said in a stern voice. "I'm the manager of this restaurant and would like to request you to please refrain from doing anything as undignified as propping your feet up. You are upsetting our other customers and we may have to send you and your companion away for the disturbance."

Sho gestured the woman closer to him in response to her warning, indicating that he wanted to tell her something.

Though quite stiffly, she did so and leaned forward.

"I'm sorry about what just happened," he said in a smooth voice. Setsu caught every word he said. "My companion and I just had a little disagreement. It won't happen again."

With that said, Sho tipped his hat back, revealing more of his face and a little of his blond hair.

The woman's eyes widened to the size of saucers and her mouth had taken the shape of an "o" as she stood there, stock still in her leaning position with her face so close to the young man she had only just realized to be Fuwa Sho.

"Y-You're," she stammered, her breathing already turning into short gasps of excitement.

Setsu's brows shot up again in amusement at the turn of events.

Then the woman turned to her, an accusatory frown on her face.

She looked back at her blankly. Not entirely sure if she deserved such a bitter expression. What did she do?

"So this girl is your…" she trailed away and looked back at Sho with a more softened expression on her face.

Setsu still didn't understand what was going on so she remained silent and instead settled on simply being the audience to this little scene as it progressed.

Sho looked at the restaurant manager then at Setsu, an idea suddenly coming to mind. There was always another way for him to prove the girl's lack of emotion and it would give him a good deal of satisfaction as well.

From the day they met he had always wondered why she was indifferent to him though she obviously liked his company enough to talk to him and hang out with him. What else could he do to push the girl to realize her feelings and to show it than to make her jealous?

Jealousy always made women emotional.

Grinning, he looked back at the older woman and looked down at her uniform. He saw an ample amount of cleavage before his eyes landed on the name plate that was resting on her left breast.

"Maki-san," he said in an even smoother tone of voice.

Setsu was even more amused now. She didn't know why she felt amused since she was never interested in things or situations like this but the reaction of the woman who was obviously entranced with Sho was indeed amusing to her now.

Probably one of the emotions she usually felt before? So did her accident render her unable to remember how to feel certain feelings as well? But that didn't make sense. She was able to feel certain feelings though she only ever showed it to her brother.

She was unable to ponder more on this confusing fact however when the woman, apparently called Maki, had to slam her hand onto the table to steady herself. She looked ready to faint judging from the look she had on her face.

"Maki-san," Sho murmured once again.

Setsu had to keep herself from rolling her eyes.

Since when did she roll her eyes?

She frowned at this new revelation. She can't blame her frown all on it though for it was also caused by the pounding that had already begun inside her head.

'What an inconvenient way to recall my own memories,' she thought, shaking her head as if trying to shake it out of her. To her surprise, however, it worked a little.

Sho stole a glance at Setsu to make sure she was listening and watching before he turned back to the spellbound manager.

"That girl isn't my girlfriend," he said reassuringly.

Setsu, who was looking at Maki, quickly shifted her gaze onto Sho. Her head was starting to pound again.

"Someone like you is _my type_, Maki-san," he added though trying not to laugh. How ironic was this turn of events? Though it had happened a long while ago, he remembered having this kind of conversation with Shoko. Now he was using his exact words about Kyoko back then as reference.

Still watching Sho, Setsu had to hold onto the side of her head to steady herself. He only said a single sentence and that made her get her emotions this flustered. What was going on now?

"That _boring_ and _unattractive_ girl," he continued with a drawl, nodding his head over at Setsu without taking his eyes off Maki who seemed even closer to fainting now. "She means _nothing_ to me. She is-"

Everyone in the restaurant, once again, turned to their direction.

Sho blinked as what happened took time to sink into his head.

Maki, who had a portion of the spaghetti carbonara dumped over her since she was so close to Sho, fell to the floor. Whether it was due to weak knees from being so close to the celebrity for too long or from shock of the collision of food on her face and hair, no one knew.

Finally regaining his senses, Sho turned around to face Setsu.

She was standing there, breathing rather heavily with an angered yet pained look on her face. One hand was clutching to the side of her head, the other was holding onto the empty plate which held her pasta only moments ago.

"What the-"

"Goodbye!" she said loudly at Sho, cutting him short from his attempt at reprimanding her.

Staggering, Setsu grabbed her purse and made her way out of the restaurant.

**xoxo**

"Corn?"

"_Yes, amongst other things. She seems to be starting to remember a few pieces of her memories."_

"So if she gets headaches she remembers?"

"_She doesn't necessarily have to have headaches to remember but those are indicating factors that her mind is trying to heal itself."_

"I see."

"_If you need any more information on her condition, you can always drop by the hospital Tsuruga-san. But for now, she's doing well. We did a physical on her after the interview just in case and there were no problems either."_

"Yes, thank you for everything Dr. Asano. I'll be in touch if anything else happens."

"_Very well. Have a good day."_

When beeping met his ears, Ren closed his cell, slipped it into the pocket of his bathrobe and left the bathroom.

He had only stepped a few paces away from the doorway before he felt her arms wrap around his waist from behind with the rest of her body pressing against his back.

Ren said a mental prayer to express his thanks that his terrycloth bathrobe was thick enough to reduce the impact he felt when her breasts collided against him.

"About time you finished your bath."

"That never stopped you from coming in before."

"I resisted. I figured you'd be tired from work and just wanted to relax. Notice how considerate I am to only interrupt your baths when you take them in the morning?"

Ren smiled. She thought _that _enough made her considerate? He wanted to laugh out loud but seeing as he was supposed to be Cain Heel, he shouldn't.

"Yes, thank you for being so considerate."

"Let's go to bed?"

"Didn't you just wake up?"

This was unusual. When he got home, she was already sound asleep on his bed.

She nodded.

"You're still tired?"

She shrugged.

He loosened her hold around his waist and turned to face her. Placing a finger beneath her chin, he tipped her head up to look at him.

"Are you okay?"

Setsu smiled up at him. "Yes, I just want to lay down with nii-san, that's all."

Ren nodded and led her back to his room. He motioned for her to get back into bed while he put on a pair of pajama bottoms and removed his robe. There was no point in drying his hair since his conversation with Dr. Asano took long enough for it to dry by itself.

The moment he slid next to her, Setsu immediately closed her eyes and draped an arm and a leg over him. She snuggled closer to him, positioning herself onto the crook of his neck as usual but this time, kissed him there.

"Setsu?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" she replied, unperturbed.

"Kissing me on the neck."

"I always kiss you," she countered and kissed him on the same spot yet again to prove her point.

Ren had to grit his teeth. It wasn't lost to him that the spot she had kissed- twice! –was the exact same spot where she gave him the hickey back then. So her memories really were slowly coming back to her then? Though she doesn't seem to realize it. The fact that her memories were coming back was a good thing but if she were to act like this from her partially remembered memories every single time, it wouldn't be a good thing for him. Just those two little pecks she dropped on him had already stirred his body into remembering his feelings from that night.

"Nii-san?" she whispered, interrupting his internal struggles.

"Yes?" his voice was hoarse yet again. He cursed himself.

"How was your day?"

Her conversational tone of voice amused him enough to cut short the feelings that were trying to escape him.

"I thought you were tired."

Setsu shook her head. "I only said I wanted to lay down with you."

"So you want to _talk_?"

She bit down the smile threatening to show on her face.

"Unless you can think of other things we can do while lying down."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Okay, I know I said I would upload this chapter before my trip to New York and Virginia. My bad. Completely slipped my mind!

I'm back home now though and here's the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

I'll be updating soon-ish (that goes for my ongoing CCS story as well). 'Til next time!

**RaNe**


	7. Relive

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

If you read/follow any of my ongoing stories, _please read my Author's Note_ at the end of this chapter for some sort-of important news.

Also, there's a bit of **Rated M** stuff in this chapter. It's not really _that_ intense (just really mild stuff in my opinion) so I'm keeping the rating of this story as is.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**"Relive"**

* * *

They wrestled. Yes, they literally wrestled.

Setsu gasped, rolled over to lie on her back and started laughing.

Ren, who was on his stomach, had his face turned away from her. It took all he had to stop himself from wrestling her in a different manner for the past fifteen minutes. He'd even avoided showing his face to her all that time just to make sure she didn't see the dark and wicked haze that he was sure had overcome his features.

"Nii-san," she said playfully and loudly, rolling herself yet again, this time to land on top of him. What was wrong with her? Had she ever been this playful with her brother before? She can't remember being this way with him but she can't seem to stop herself either. It felt right to have fun somehow even if it seemed unlike her.

Ren grunted in reply.

He was exhausted not from the physical strain but from the mental. Did this woman not realize how hard it was to keep himself in check? She didn't make it any easier now either with her breasts pressing up against him with only her negligible top between their bare skins.

"I can see you're tired. Let's just talk then."

He grunted again.

"How was your day?" she asked yet again, her tone going back to her usual self.

Slightly grateful for her return to normalcy, Ren sighed. After his talk with Dr. Asano, he wasn't surprised by this weird and out of character behavior. If he wasn't mistaken, the real and unrestrained Kyoko had just made an appearance though still believing she was still Setsuka.

"It was good. By the rate we're going, it shouldn't be long until I finish shooting my scenes as BJ."

Setsu nodded, making her cheek rub against his smooth back.

"How was your day?"

She frowned. The first thing that came to mind when he asked this was Sho's face.

"Horrible."

"How so? What did you go do after your checkup?"

"I met up with Sho-kun again and-"

Ren turned around so quickly, Setsu was sent flying onto the bed and landing on her stomach.

"N-Nii-san!" she scolded, half laughing and totally unaware of the tense atmosphere that had overcome the air around them. "Why did you…"

Setsu's voice trailed away, as did her smile when she turned to look at her brother's face.

"Nii-san?"

He was on his side now, propped up by an elbow and he was glaring at her.

Both of them didn't say a word. Simply stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak first.

Ren was waiting for her to explain herself further.

Setsu was waiting for him to explain his glare.

None of them got to do any sort of explanation however when…

_AAAWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…_

'Not again! I should really learn to set the thing to vibrate,' Setsu thought, breaking her gaze to glance at the dresser set across the foot of the bed where her cell phone lit up. Yet again, she knew who it was.

She looked back to her brother and judging from the look on his face, he knew who it was too.

They both pushed themselves off the bed at the same time but by the time she managed to free herself of the blankets to get herself out of bed, Ren was already by the dresser.

When he turned around and held her cell phone up for her to see, she froze on the spot.

"What did I say last time about not seeing this guy?"

She clasped her hands behind her back and looked away from him. "I never agreed to," she muttered.

Ren strode back over to her.

Setsu was surprised by this sudden movement she thought for a fleeting and ridiculous moment that he would hit her. She stumbled back a few steps until the back of her legs touch the foot of the bed.

"What?" she asked, getting defensive and frowning up at him. "I never agreed to what you…"

Her voice trailed away at the quailing look he was aiming at her.

What was happening now? Her brother was looking like he was ready for murder. The look he had now was even worse than the one he had the previous night. Not only that, she was talking back to him. Since when did she do that? Why can't she obey her brother's wishes anyway? Hadn't she always considered his word to be of utmost value?

"What were you doing with him this time?" Ren asked, stepping even closer to her. So much anger was rising out of him.

Kuon was surfacing from within him once again and this time in full determined vengeance. Not having let go of any of his gathered negativity about her and Sho that other night seem to only make him feel even angrier today.

Setsu could see his eyes blazing.

"W-We went out for lunch together but we-"

She stopped talking when he took another step closer towards her with her cell phone still held up in front of him.

"You know what I think about him?"

Setsu shook her head mutely.

Ren gripped her phone in his hand tighter.

Her gaze lowered to her cell phone which gave a squeaky whining sound that indicated the plastic casing being squeezed together.

The moment she reached up to even try to save the gadget from his clutches, he threw it across the room.

She dropped her hand and looked back up at him.

"Don't let me repeat myself again," he said, taking another predatory step forward.

She glared defiantly up at him but stepped back all the same.

This was obviously the wrong thing to do since there wasn't any place left to move back to except the bed. When the back of her foot hit the bed frame, she wobbled in place slightly and had to bend down to hold onto the mattress to steady herself up again.

"You don't have to be so mean about it," she shot back, quite bravely in her opinion. The tone of voice she had used certainly wasn't something she would normally use to speak to her brother but he wasn't acting like himself either. No matter how much she adored her brother, she didn't feel like being too generous to his wills right now.

Something flickered in his eye then. And quick like a panther, he had managed to pin her down once again with his entire frame looming on top of her.

Setsu blinked up at him in surprise at his agility.

"You dare talk back to me?" he asked in a lower and even more menacing tone.

Ren looked down at her, his face void of any sort of expression now. His anger at being betrayed by this girl yet again was palpable. He could literally feel his blood boil inside him. How dare she go see that guy again after he made it clear to her not to do so? Also, how dare she talk back to him in that way?

"Well?"

Setsu continued staring up at him, still at a loss for words. Who was this man? He certainly looked like her brother but it didn't feel that way at all. And why was she feeling complete terror inside her now which she didn't feel that other night? How had she turned fright into amusement the last time anyway? How can she switch her feelings again now?

Silence overwhelmed them.

It took a few more minutes for Setsu to find her voice.

"Why…"

Ren continued to stare her down. He didn't react to her one word reply at all.

"Why," she repeated. She could feel her body shaking. "Why are you so angry?"

He didn't expect this question from her.

_Why_ was he angry?

Ren could feel a layer of his burning anger dissipate.

She saw the hint of confusion pass through his eyes.

"Why are you acting this way?"

Her voice was less demanding now as she leaned up to take a closer look into his eyes which were currently betraying the emotions he was feeling deep down.

She could tell now. He was just as confused as she was.

"Nii-san," she whispered softly as she pressed her palms onto his chest to push him off her and onto the bed.

The moment she settled her legs onto the sides of his waist with her butt comfortably situated onto his pelvis, it was her turn to lean over and stare down at him.

Yet again, Ren's anger was lost.

This time, however, it wasn't only due to the fact that they were now in exactly the same position they were a few weeks before. But because of the tears that had slid down Setsu's face which now landed onto his cheeks.

Not only did all his burning layers of anger melt in a snap at the sight of her crying features, but now he was chock-full of guilt.

He made her do this. He was the cause of these tears. Tears which he hadn't seen in years. Tears which he hadn't seen since she was a child.

"I'm sorry," he said in a low voice.

She managed to give him a small smile before she shook her head.

"I'm not crying because of what you said or did," she told him and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand.

"Then why?"

Setsu didn't answer him. She would feel even more ridiculous about herself if she admitted that the reason she was crying was because she felt like her head was close to exploding.

Her head had already started throbbing the moment he threw her cell phone across the room. But when she got the thought that it felt like he was someone else and that some spirit or something had taken control of him which could possibly be why he was acting so unlike himself, her head had begun pounding like mad. It only got worse when he ended up getting on top of her.

All that time, she had endured it all until she couldn't take it anymore. When the pain finally reached its breaking point, instead of fainting, she burst into tears.

Ren looked at the anguished look on her face.

'What the hell have I done?' he thought, horrorstruck.

It took another good minute for Setsu to finally calm herself and her head. She was also grateful for his cooperation now. If he had gone on with getting angry over God-knows-what, she might not have the willpower to stay conscious.

"Nii-san," she finally said, her voice a mere whisper.

"Yes?"

"Why are you angry?" she asked again.

Her tone was so sincere he felt his heart break all over again. He was at least glad she had stopped crying. It looks as if she had calmed down enough.

Ren lifted his hand and stroked the side of her face before resting his palm on her cheek.

"I'm sorry. I just lost control."

She closed her eyes and leaned against his touch.

"I guess I was just…jealous."

"I don't know why you would be."

"You went out with another man Setsu. You're mine."

Her eyes still closed, she can't help but smile. The throbbing had begun yet again although it was quite mild at the moment to a point she didn't even feel it. The fluttering feeling in her heart at her brother's words masked it entirely.

"Yes, I'm yours. Sho is… Sho is… I don't even like him, nii-san."

Ren continued to watch her. Her eyes were still closed but a frown had appeared on her face instead of that wistful smile she had when he touched her. He also took notice that she failed to use an honorific when she mentioned Sho's name. Hadn't she referred to the guy as "Sho-kun" lately?

"Why don't you like him?"

"I just don't. I… I despise him and his guts with every fiber of my being," she declared vehemently, starting to get into a temper of her own.

This surprised Ren.

"You only met him," he pointed out. "How can you hate him that much?"

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked down at him.

"I just do," she said, glaring now.

Satisfied with the truth that was reflected in her eyes as she said those words, Ren's swirling emotions about the topic of Fuwa Sho was mollified.

"Then don't go out to see him again. Promise me this, Setsu."

She nodded without hesitation.

"Why in the world would I go and see the guy? I just said I don't like him!"

Ren shook his head, a smile on his lips. Perhaps her old feelings of hatred for the guy had returned to her? That was the only explanation Ren can give himself at the moment.

When the issue was finally settled, the realization of their current position finally settled itself at the top of his head. He immediately felt his insides stir uncomfortably. Not only that, but his dear sister was starting to act on her boldness again.

She had turned her head far enough to plant a kiss on the palm of his hand.

"What's wrong?" Setsu whispered, feeling him stiffen beneath her.

He didn't say anything. He didn't even breathe.

"Nii-san?" she said in another whisper as she pulled his hand away and leaned even closer over him. Her face was only an inch or two apart from his now.

Realizing he wasn't planning on saying anything in return, she merely smiled at him before planting a kiss on his forehead.

This was exactly the same as that time.

That was the only coherent thought Ren had left in his mind before his eyes fell closed. Though the situation wasn't favorable at all, he can't help but feel content. He had longed to feel her lips against him again.

The kissing didn't stop there, however, for before Ren even realized it, she had already shifted herself downwards, her hands running the length of his torso, caressing him up and down gently.

"Setsu, we-"

All thought left him at that point when he felt her start kissing and sucking the nape of his neck.

He sucked in a deep breath at this.

This felt different from that first time. They were both different right now. She isn't in her right state of mind for being more Setsu than Kyoko and he isn't in his right state of mind because he was nowhere near being his character as Cain Heel or even Tsuruga Ren for that matter. Both their cause for restraints were gone.

This isn't good at all, but the feel of her performing her ministrations was. It felt _really _good. So good that he never wanted her to stop.

Ren sighed.

When the sound of his contentment reached Setsu's ears, she smiled against his skin and sucked with even more force for a few more seconds before she finally pulled away.

The reddened mark on his skin satisfied her in ways she didn't expect.

"I left a pretty good mark," she commented, looking at her work before flicking her tongue over it as a final touch.

"You like that spot don't you?" he asked, his voice husky.

"Why do you say?"

"You kissed me in the exact place twice earlier," he replied. 'And that's where you first gave me a hickey too.'

She smiled, glad he noticed.

"Setsu," he murmured.

"Hmm?"

As gently as he could, he flipped them around.

"Nii-san?" she inquired wonderingly though the look in her eyes showed that she knew exactly what he was going to do.

Ren couldn't stop himself anymore even if he wanted to.

Mutely, he caressed her face before letting his hand fall down to her neck, her shoulder, up and down her arm, before his hand settled on her tiny waist.

The hungry look in his eyes was apparent to her. And she liked it.

Raising her arms, she pulled him by the shoulders and settled his face against her own neck.

"Mark me as your own, nii-san," she whispered softly into his ear.

She felt his grip on her waist tighten right when he complied with her order.

Setsu gasped at the contact. His lips felt wonderful against her skin that she felt compelled to raise her head higher to give him better access to her nape. The sensations he sent there had only collided with the sensations one of his hands was giving her too. She hadn't realized his caressing hand from earlier had found its way under her top and was now running up and down the bare skin of her torso. The feeling of his hand in such an area felt wonderful to her.

"Nii-san," she moaned. The pleasure she felt was clear in her voice.

Right when she did, she felt his tongue lick her in the area he was currently sucking on before he began nibbling it playfully then sucking it once again.

"More," she whispered. Her hands were fisted with his hair now as she gave him a gentle push closer to her.

This did the opposite effect though as he pulled away.

Ren pulled back just enough to see the half-lidded and passion-filled look on her face.

"Please," she requested, her tone pleading as she tried to pull him back down towards her.

He resisted and instead moved both his hands now further up beneath her top.

Setsu's eyes widened momentarily before they shut closed and her breathing hitched. The feel of his hands cupping her bare breast felt divine.

Ren watched her contort as she savored the feeling of him touching her. He couldn't tear his gaze away. Her face was transparent to the emotions currently overwhelming her.

He squeezed and massaged her.

She moaned loudly and her breathing had turned shallow.

Without another moment's consideration, Ren lowered himself, pulled her top away which promptly exposed her breasts and took one of her nipples into his mouth.

Setsu all but screamed.

He squeezed both of her breasts even harder in return.

She bit her lip and writhed beneath him, her hold onto his hair stronger now.

What in the world was happening? She had never had these kinds of feelings before. She wanted him to stop at the same time she didn't. She wanted more, although more of what, she didn't know but she just wanted more.

Her brother was kissing and sucking and licking her in intimate places she would never have imagined. This should be wrong, shouldn't it? But then she loved her brother, so it didn't matter, right? There was also this nagging feeling at the back of her mind and from a corner of her heart that's telling her that it's all okay.

The pounding in her head was back again. It came so suddenly and so badly the feelings in her heart that she'd been continually having all this time was instantly overruled.

'Stop thinking about it,' she told herself forcefully. The more she thought about it, the pain seemed to increase as well.

His tongue flicked against one of her nipples.

She moaned.

No, such a wonderful feeling couldn't be wrong. It just couldn't. And she trusted this man implicitly not only because he was her brother but because… Well, she didn't know why but she just does even if she wasn't her brother. Yes, she trusted him with all her heart.

Her head was pounding even harder now.

'Stop thinking already!' she scolded herself again.

His lips were kissing the skin beneath her breasts now.

She moaned again.

Her head pounded against her skull again.

She faintly recalled a boy and a pretty blue stone that absorbs her pain and grief. She vaguely thought of how she could use one of those stones right about now.

'Stop thinking about it!'

His lips were trailing kisses down her bare and hot skin.

She groaned.

Her head felt close to exploding again.

"…_won't act unlike myself like tonight and behave in a way that will disappoint you again…"_

'What? Stop!' she shouted inside her head. Did her brother just speak? That was his voice but how can he say anything when he was still preoccupied with kissing her near her-

His tongue darted into her navel.

She groaned even louder.

The pain was getting unbearable and the voices in her head were getting louder.

"Stop!" she shouted.

Ren froze and pulled back in surprise. The panic in her voice made him feel like he was just struck with lightning.

He looked down at her. Her eyes were shut tight and her hand was holding onto the side of her head while the other was now gripping his shoulder like a vice.

"Setsu?" he asked, concerned.

There was something wrong and his feeling of worry made his other concerns- like his hard-pressed desire to touch her in places she had never been touched –evaporate.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hi everyone! I hope this chapter was enjoyable enough for you.

So on to more important matters.

The reason why I haven't updated my stories lately is because... I'm _sick_. Ever since I got back from my 4-day trip, my friend got sick and I got it from her. I'm still sick right now but I regained a bit of my mind to update this story.

I'd update **Mending Mistakes** too if I had the next chapter ready (like this one) but unfortunately I'm still writing that story and I haven't written all this time so... No update for now. I will update as soon as I can though! I'm not going on a break whatsoever, just saying.

Anyway, that's it for now. I hope this chapter wasn't too much for you for those who weren't expecting such content. I made it as mild as I possibly could while putting in a bit of sexual-ness for the pair. Ren/Cain and Kyoko/Setsu can't not have anything sexual between them. Something like this has been long overdue in the manga in my opinion. ;)

See you by the next chapter!

**RaNe**


	8. Reminisce

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

To my readers (especially those who read my **CCS stories**), _please read my Author's Note_ at the end of this page!

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**"Reminisce"**

* * *

It took almost an hour for Setsu to be rid of her headaches and finally get a hold of herself last night in which case he forced her to go to sleep despite her attempts of freeing herself from him.

He had thought everything was fine again, just like it did that day when she fainted. In fact, he didn't even expect anything different seeing as the girl never fainted this time. He thought for sure that it wasn't as bad as then since she managed to stay conscious.

When morning came, however, the first thing Ren noticed when she awoke was the horror in her face.

She simply looked horrified.

He didn't know if it was because their little "activity" was interrupted and she felt disappointed or if it was because they were doing the "activity" in the first place. Or it could be something else altogether, which was what he hoped for.

Ren didn't feel regret though. He felt bad for taking advantage of the situation like that knowing she still didn't have all her memories back and she was practically doing all those things thinking he was really her brother- which is even worse if it were true in his opinion –but he didn't regret any of it at all.

"Setsu?" he called out from the doorway to his bedroom.

She jumped and averted her gaze from the light blue sky outside the large window to look at him.

He watched her take in a deep breath before speaking.

"Yes, nii-san?"

"I ordered food for you and set it up in the kitchen. I have to go."

"Okay, thank you. You can go ahead."

He held her gaze for a few more seconds before nodding.

"Stay in the entire day to rest. I'll call you around lunch."

"Okay."

He gave her a small smile all the while looking like he was waiting for something.

"Nii-san?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you…nii-san."

"I love you too, Setsu."

With that, he turned on his heel and closed the bedroom door.

She listened intently until she heard the main door outside open and close. The moment it did, she tilted sideways and landed with a thud onto the bed, her face as red as a tomato.

"Damn! Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn!" she shouted into one of the pillows.

Bad idea. It smelled like him. It smelled like Ren.

Kyoko let go of the pillow and settled instead on wrapping her entire body with the blanket like a cocoon.

'Why? WHYYYY?!' she asked herself in horror. 'I love you? Really? What in the world was wrong with me? So I not only lost my memories for the past few weeks I seem to have lost my sense of shame, decency and…and…' the memories of what happened last night chose that moment to flood back into her mind, '…morality! I'm the worst! I'm a shameless, indecent and immoral woman!'

This has got to be the worst and most embarrassing moment of her life.

The moment her memories flooded back into her, her heart sank. She wanted to die rather than face this humiliation.

When she came to herself again last night, she felt confused and her head felt muddled with a lot of things she never realized that she knew. She couldn't keep still and her head had continued pounding.

Normally she could never and would never have fallen asleep next to Tsuruga Ren, especially not in the manner that she had last night (and apparently every night for a while now) with her arms and legs draped over him like a damned koala.

But no, she actually managed it last night and it wasn't just because he refused to let her leave his side but also because deep down, she actually liked it. Since when had she become such a girl? By sleeping next to him, she even felt content, relaxed, and safe doing it!

After she slept through the night and morning came, her head was clear as day. She was as clearly horrified as well.

She had lived almost a full month with Tsuruga Ren and had done a number of unmentionable things with him- which she was currently pretending to conveniently forget -during that time! Surely she must've ruined his already busy schedule if he had to come back home to her as Cain Heel every single day? And her job! Her shooting for _Box "R"_! Was she sacked then for ditching on work for weeks? What about her duties as Bo?

"Ugh," she groaned, gripping her head. This time it wasn't the usual headaches she got back when she was unfortunate enough to believe herself as Setsu. These headaches weren't from the lack of memories but for being too full of it instead.

'How am I going to face everyone now?' she thought to herself, still feeling horrified and embarrassed as she scanned her brain for anything else she should be worried about.

Her thoughts then settled on Sho.

She snorted.

"Serves him right," she muttered as she recalled how she successfully dumped the pasta over him. She had failed to get him that first time when she threw food at him when he was talking to his manager ages ago. At least she got him now.

Her thoughts drifted back to Ren.

She groaned yet again.

"What am I going to do?!"

_AAAWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…_

Kyoko's head snapped up at the sound. Her temper flared.

"If it's _that _guy," she grumbled as she crawled out of bed and onto the floor. Ren had thrown the thing last night although where it landed exactly, she didn't know.

_AAAWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…_

The cell phone rang again as it did when she ignored the tone for the first time.

"Found you," she exclaimed triumphantly, spotting it beneath a drawer.

_-x-_

_Fr: Cain Nii-san :)_

_Subj: Promise_

_[10:16 PM] – Promise me you won't go out today._

___-x-_

So it wasn't Sho after all. Kyoko smiled and sent him a quick reply. It was only then that she noticed she didn't have any other unread messages. The message last night that made her cell ring wasn't there. It was surely from Sho, she had no doubt about it but it wasn't listed there.

Ren must've deleted it last night right after he grabbed her cell from the dresser.

Kyoko shook her head.

What happened last night and the other night as well still didn't make any sense to her.

Hadn't he told her mere weeks ago that he won't act unlike himself anymore and disappoint her? So much for his word. But now that she had her memories back, she also found a pattern to his anger now.

Sho.

Why did the man get so incredibly angry and seem almost possessed by some murderous spirit whenever Sho came up between them? Of course she recalled the time before when he almost seriously injured Murasame, he also had that same murderous spirit too. But after their first "intimate encounter"- Kyoko shivered from embarrassment and horror and...pleasure? –Ren seemed perfectly normal again. He looked and acted like he beat the murderous spirit since then, at least.

So why did it come back again now? And only when Sho was mentioned?

Kyoko shook her head.

This wasn't the time to think about such things. It was a concern for her, sure, but not the most pressing one.

First she needed to figure out what she should do.

If she confessed to Ren about her memories returning to her, it would be almost too embarrassing to face.

If she didn't tell him, or anyone for that matter, then she's going to be stuck as Setsuka Heel.

Kyoko groaned and fell back onto the bed once more.

"What on earth am I going to do?"

**xoxo**

"Don't you think there's something different about him today?" Murasame whispered.

Konoe, the director of _Tragic Marker_, looked in the direction of Murasame's gaze and surveyed Ren.

"Something different?" he asked, furrowing his brows to try and see what the actor was getting at.

"Yes, he seems kind of worse today. Don't you think, director?" he hissed.

Konoe continued to stare at Ren while the man himself was simply sitting down, getting his makeup retouched before they shoot his next scene.

"I don't see any-"

"No," Murasame interrupted. "Look carefully."

Squinting his eyes, he did as he said.

Ren didn't look any different than he usually does except that he had this sort of small smirk on his face that marred the perpetual frown he usually wore when he was in character as Cain Heel. He didn't see how a smirk would make him look all too different though.

"I suppose there is something?" he supplied although in an unconvinced tone of voice.

Murasame nodded fervently. "Look at his face. He's been looking like that when the cameras aren't rolling. He's obviously plotting something don't you think?" he asked this while pulling down the collar to his shirt. Just remembering that time when the guy had him in a head lock more than a month ago already made him feel uncomfortable. "Remember how his mood was before when he only just came from abroad? He always smiled with a bloodthirsty look on his face. You don't think it's happening again, don't you?"

Konoe gave Murasame an almost pitying look and patted the young man on the back comfortingly. Indeed he remembered the look on Ren's face back then but it was completely different now. He was also reassured by Ren that he was suffering from some form of trouble back then but that he's perfectly fine now. And he believes him.

He can't blame Murasame for being concerned though. He was always the one suffering from Cain Heel's temper ever since his appearance.

"Don't worry about it Murasame-kun. I'll keep an eye out for you if it's worrying you so much."

Murasame gave him a half embarrassed, half disgruntled look. He didn't want to be perceived as being afraid of Cain. He was a delinquent during his younger years and the renowned leader of his own gang after all. He will not show fear even if his opponent seemed to be on a different scale of danger.

"It's not only that," he muttered, crossing his arms. "You have noticed the absence of his sister right?"

Konoe nodded but didn't say anything. No one else from the _Tragic Marker_ set but him knew of the Heels actual identities and actual relationship but he had already been informed that Kyoko would not be coming in for an indefinite time due to an accident that took place not long ago. He was informed that she was fine now except that they just want her to completely heal from the head trauma she had suffered.

"I'm guessing he's done something to her."

"What?" the director said, blinking. "What makes you think that?"

Now he was sure Murasame was getting ahead of himself with his assumptions about Cain.

"Think about it Konoe-san," he said rather seriously. "The girl hasn't shown up in about a month now. She just suddenly disappeared."

"And you think Cain has something to do with it?"

Murasame shrugged. "I wouldn't put it past him. He certainly looks capable of harming his own sister."

He shook his head. "Listen to yourself Murasame-kun."

"I'm serious. And that's not the only thing suspicious about the guy. You know what the makeup team told me earlier? They said Heel had another mark," he tapped his nape, "today and that it looked fresh. Still red and everything."

Konoe's brows shot up. 'Another one?' he thought, turning to Ren now. The smirk was still on the actor's face.

He could feel his cheeks burn. Surely he wasn't doing anything else with Kyoko? So did that mean she was okay now?

"What is it?" Murasame asked eagerly after seeing the look on the older man's face.

"What?" Konoe said distractedly. "Nothing, nothing. I'm sure it's nothing Murasame-kun. Now let's go. We have to get you prepared for the next scene before Heel-san finishes with makeup."

Murasame frowned at him but did as he instructed. He was, however, not going to let his suspicions drop.

**xoxo**

"Oh God, thank you," Kyoko said, relief spreading through her. At least there was something in this place that was of comfort to her and her situation.

Carefully, she pulled out the large duffel bag which she presumed belonged to Ren seeing as it held a few of his normal clothes which didn't comprise of black and anything leather.

She was still at a loss as to what to do in her present situation which is why she took to exploring the place more thoroughly, something she hadn't done when she was the uncaring Setsu. This was how she discovered the presence of the out-of-place bag which she found as she rummaged through Ren's closet. She knew she shouldn't have but everything concerning the man interested her especially now. She didn't mean to look through his belongings but she still felt a sense of personal loss and she just wanted to find something distracting to do.

So here she was with Ren's white duffel bag in front of her. She had pulled it out far enough towards her after she took a peak of its contents and saw a familiar looking purse. Her purse.

She zipped the bag fully open, took out her purse and hugged it close.

One step closer to being Kyoko. Who would've thought the presence of a mere bag would make her feel this relieved? Then again, every item in their apartment, except the furniture, was owned by the Heel siblings which meant almost everything was black. She was just glad to see something of a different shade in the room with her.

Kyoko opened her purse and saw her cell phone- the pink one that LME had provided for her long ago which she now switched on -her wallet, a small notepad and pen, and to her joy, her most prized possession.

She bit her lip and opened the tiny coin purse and took out the clear blue gem held within.

Staggering to her feet, she practically sprinted towards the balcony and outside into the fresh morning air.

"Corn," she whispered in a sort of prayer as she gripped the stone tightly against her chest before raising it into the direction of the sun.

The glare of the sun gave the stone a yellow tinge.

"It'll all be alright now," Kyoko told herself in a low murmur. "Thank you Corn. You never fail to-"

She stopped at the sound of the ringing. It was her cell phone. Kyoko's cell phone, not Setsu's.

Sighing, Kyoko kissed the stone once before reentering the room.

The phone was vibrating and ringing on the floor beside the still-open duffel bag.

She ran towards it, flipped it open and the screen flashed "Unknown Number" up at her.

"Sho…ta…ro…" she hissed menacingly.

Who else could it be? He was the only one left who called her with a restricted number!

Can this guy's timing get any worse? It seemed like he was hell bent on ruining her life! Ren had gotten mad at her _three_ times now because of him and this guy also interrupted her while she was in the middle of consoling herself with Corn!

Not wasting any more time to cool down, she slammed a finger on the answer button and immediately gave him a piece of her mind.

"What the hell do you want from me?!" she screamed, her entire body seething to the point that she was shaking. "You've dealt enough damage to last me a lifetime Shotaro! So leave me alone and stop calling me! I hope you smell like spaghetti carbonara for the rest of your life and attract ants in your sleep! Goodbye!"

**xoxo**

Sho grunted irately seeing no new mail in his cell phone.

"What the hell is her problem?"

He wanted to get even with her at least. Setsu had not only thoroughly embarrassed him in public but the girl had damaged his pride as well.

Really, what was her problem? There was nothing wrong with what he said. He just met the girl so how can she be hurt about him telling another woman that she meant nothing to him. Perhaps she was angry out of jealousy? Or was she hurt when he said she was boring and unattractive? Setsu wasn't unattractive at all in a physical sense but she was boring and unattractive to him in a way that she was emotionless.

Clearly, he didn't think she was emotionless now.

It was like the incident with Kyoko all over again except this time, the food actually got all over him. And worse, it all happened with a large audience watching.

The thought of Kyoko brought him back to remember his ritual. He didn't have any hopes today either but he thought he ought to try anyway.

He easily got to Kyoko's name from his contact list and clicked.

"_What the hell do you want from me?!"_

Sho was frozen in shock. She answered? So she's actually fine? Fine enough to be shouting at him? But why in the world was she shouting furiously at him?

"_You've dealt enough damage to last me a lifetime Shotaro! So leave me alone and stop calling me! I hope you smell like spaghetti carbonara for the rest of your life and attract ants in your sleep! Goodbye!"_

Dumbstruck, he pulled his ear away from his cell to check the screen which now showed him the number of seconds the call lasted when it had ended.

Not only did he not even get a single word in before she ended the call but she was as quick to hang up as abruptly as she had answered.

'What the hell?!' he thought incredulously, his own temper rising. That was until her words finally pierced through him. 'So Setsu was her all this time?!'

"Sho?"

He looked up at Shoko who was standing there with a worried expression on her pretty face.

"It's nothing," he grumbled, crossing his arms. 'Well no wonder she got pissed. I used the same old insults on her again. But how was I supposed to know? It's her fault for even faking her identity in the first place!'

So much for trying to get back into Kyoko's good books. He had been trying to win her back ever since he found out she's been too close to Tsuruga Ren and now he landed himself back to the bottom.

Shoko looked over at Sho as she continued to organize the gazillion pages of new yet tentative lyrics he had written in the past few days.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

He didn't answer her but simply shrugged his shoulder while still looking confused but sulky.

The only coherent word she got from him was "women" before he started muttering to himself again.

She couldn't help but smile and shake her head. It was easy enough to deduce that he was frustrated about Kyoko.

She's the only girl who ever got him this riled up.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Okay, so... This is an apology Author's Note. :P

I know I've been neglecting my stories especially **Mending Mistakes** and after I promised to update every weekend too! Gahhh!

I'm sorry. There's a lot going on and I really didn't have the time to write. I'm only updating this constantly because this story is done. As for my other story, I'm still in the middle of the next chapter. I was never satisfied with the stuff I tried to write for it a few days ago so I ended up changing it constantly. BUT! I'll try to update it by this weekend though... I'll really try.

For now, please be patient with this irresponsible author.

'Til the next update!

**RaNe**


	9. Realize

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

A big thanks to _Phyrradoxa_ for spotting and telling me about my little typo in the last chapter! Can't believe I didn't see that. :P

Now, onwards!

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**"Realize"**

* * *

The next few days were hell for Kyoko.

She was exhausted. She can't even recall ever being this exhausted in her life.

When she took that call from Sho the other day, it was easy enough for her to decide on shutting her cell phone off again and stuffing all her belongings- with one last kiss to her precious blue stone –back into her purse, back into Ren's duffel bag, and back into place in the closet as if she never found it.

Why did she do that? Now she didn't now. And she was now in the middle of tremendous feelings of regret.

Ever since that time, she had been forced to sleep with Ren and to act like her lovesick seld- although she toned that part a bit as slightly as she dared -just as she did when she thought she really was Setsuka Heel just to keep him from getting suspicious.

Kyoko simply hoped he really wasn't suspicious of her actions at all yet.

She thought she caught him watching her with a curious look more than once and although she didn't want to question him, she did only for the sake that Setsu would've done just that.

As for that certain night's activities which rendered them in very compromising positions and ended with her memories to come back to her, she was simply grateful he never brought it up. She won't deny the fact that the events of that time were still stuck in her mind though. Even her dreams since then were filled of Ren and herself doing a few things she never would have imagined of doing at all with the man. Just thinking about it made her blush.

"What's wrong?"

Kyoko shook her head and looked down at her plate and immediately stuffed her mouth with food to excuse her from speaking to him.

**xoxo**

"Oh, she's back."

"Hey, look. Is that…?"

"Can you see it?"

"Yeah, it looks like it started to fade but it's still pretty clear."

"So what do you think?"

'Setsu's face. Setsu's face. Setsu's face…' Kyoko repeated over and over again in her head like a mantra.

A week after her memories returned, she had also finally returned to the _Tragic Marker_ set as Cain Heel's supposed translator, manager, and companion. Normally, she'd be ecstatic to be back to portraying her role. After all she had developed a passion for acting. And being here as Setsuka Heel marked her return to her "job" seeing as it was very different portraying her usual Setsu when she was alone with Ren in their apartment. She thought this was her chance to fully get back into character.

Now, however, it's starting to prove to be just as difficult.

"I think those siblings are definitely something more."

"So you think they really are lovers then? Is that a normal thing?"

"Well, they did grow up aboard. Maybe it's normal for them."

'Setsu's face. Setsu's face. Setsu's face…'

"But still, to flaunt it like that."

"I know. Quite scandalous, right?"

"They don't' seem to care though."

"That's obvious. Otherwise, they wouldn't give each other hickeys in such an obvious-"

Kyoko mentally screamed to block out all the voices of everyone around her. What is up with these people? Don't they realize that she can clearly hear the words they're saying?

She was close to her limit. The moment she walked into the studio, all she had been hearing were discussions about her and her relationship with her supposed brother.

When she entered the place with Ren, everyone simply went quiet and settled to simply watch them. But when he left to have his BJ makeup done in a separate room, the muttering began.

They had either gotten over their initial surprise of her reappearance or that they were afraid to be overheard by her dear brother to be talking about them.

Embarrassing at it may be, Kyoko wanted to leave the studio or even demand that they stop talking about her in that manner. But she was Setsuka Heel right now and she was supposed to have an uncaring attitude about everything besides her brother. For Setsu, that was true, but right now she was more Mogami Kyoko than Setsuka Heel so she cared a _lot _and their words were making her uncomfortable.

She would've covered the hickey Ren gave her- which had lightened slightly since the past week –but she didn't want him to suspect her either. Since it was a mark made by her brother to prove his ownership over her, Setsu would have flaunted the mark, not hide it.

'Why did I even keep going with the pretense of still having lost my memories?' she thought, internally groaning at her stupid decision all the while keeping a straight albeit frowning expression plastered on her face.

"Uhh… Setsuka-san?"

Kyoko snapped out of her own thoughts and looked up. She never even noticed him approach or say anything to her which he had apparently done for a while now seeing as the man looked unsure and uncomfortable now.

"Director Konoe," she greeted with the tiniest bow of her head although not getting up from her seat.

"How are you?" he asked, his lowered voice laced with concern. Kyoko could tell he was asking about the accident.

She graced him one of her small smiles usually reserved for her brother. She liked director Konoe, he was a gentle man and it was apparent that he really had been worrying about her. Ren had told her beforehand that only he knew exactly about what happened to her.

"I'm perfectly fine now," she replied in an equally lowered tone.

"I see," he whispered back, smiling now. He looked around him to make sure no one was nearby before he continued. "That's good. I heard from R- err…your brother that you had a head injury. I thought it was serious since you haven't shown up in a while."

She shook her head. "It just took time to convince him to finally let me get back to my duties. The accident did its own damage though. My memories from that day are still hazy."

He nodded in understanding. "I should expect so. You had head trauma. We should consider you lucky to not have any more permanent effects."

Kyoko nodded in agreement. She didn't want to discuss anything about the accident any further. She can't risk letting slip anything that might make the director suspicious or curious enough to talk to Ren.

"Well, I better go back," he said in a normal voice now and straightening up. "I have to see to a few things before we can begin today's shoot."

She gave him another tiny bow of her head.

"Take it easy, Setsuka-san."

"I will. Thank you."

**xoxo**

"She doesn't seem ashamed about it though. It's just like with Heel-san when we saw that mark on him a few days ago."

Ren walked on in a leisurely pace towards where Setsu was sitting down by herself. The whispering- which he had gotten used to ever since he showed up to work with another fresh and clear hickey on his neck –had started again and it was obvious it was due to Setsu sporting the same mark on her neck.

Normally, he wouldn't worry himself too much about it. He knew Setsu wouldn't care. If anything, she'd be proud for having that mark on her. Lately though, she had been acting differently.

At first he had thought it was the after effects of their intimate moment in his bedroom. But after days went by with her still acting a degree of shyness around him, he knew something else was up.

He didn't think she even realized she was acting different. It was obvious to him she was struggling over something. Though her actions slip out of being Setsu-like by the tiniest bit sometimes, what threw caution to him was her face. She's been blushing a lot lately and that was something she definitely hadn't done when she was wholeheartedly convinced she was Setsuka Heel the past month.

"Setsu."

Kyoko snapped out of yet another daze and turned to him. She smiled.

"Nii-san," she greeted, standing up.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded.

As they stood there looking at each other, the voices around them became clearer.

He shook his head and was about to tell her to not mind the gossip around them but she spoke up before he could.

"The Japanese seriously can't mind their own business, can't they?" she asked with an air of exasperation.

He gave her a small smile and nodded.

"It's also been this way when I got in the day after you put mine on me."

The manner in which he said that sentence was as casual as they come, coming from Cain Heel, but his words still got to her.

'Setsu's face. Setsu's face. Setsu's face…' she chanted yet again.

Ren cocked his head to the side and stepped closer to her.

"What is it, nii-san?"

"Your face."

'Setsu's face. Setsu's face. Setsu's face…' she chanted in a panic. "What about my face?"

"Your cheeks are pink, Setsu," he pointed out bluntly.

Kyoko wanted to kick him. Did he really have to say that?

"It's… It's probably the heat. It's quite warm here compared to the outside."

That, of course, wasn't true. But she can't come up with any other viable explanation for the blush steadily creeping up her face unless she tell him the actual reason which she never will.

Ren leaned closer to her.

"What?"

Setsu was getting farther and farther away from her grasp. She desperately wanted to tell him to back off.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded yet again. "You don't have to keep worrying about me over every little thing nii-san."

"Don't I?"

'Crap,' Kyoko cursed in her head. That wasn't something Setsu would say. Setsu would normally be flattered and happy at her brother's attentiveness over her welfare. "I like it when you worry about me," she amended smoothly. "But don't keep doing so just because I recently got hospitalized."

He was still giving her a look that convinced her that _he_ wasn't convinced at all.

This went on for a few more seconds before he finally backed away from her.

He gave her his own mute nod.

**xoxo**

"I said so didn't I?" Murasame said to the group, gesturing to the pair in the corner. "That guy really did do something."

A few of his costars close to him gave him a look.

"Murasame-san, when you mentioned your suspicions about Heel-san, you made it sound like he committed murder or that he was planning it or something."

"Yes, but that's not the case isn't it? His sister is fine. They both look the same as usual."

"But I was right into suspecting that he did something. It's not as grave as murder, not yet anyway. But he's still done something which explains his weird mood lately. Her hickey proves it."

The people gathered around him nodded and smiled at him simply to placate him. Almost everyone knew how far gone Murasame was with his paranoia with Cain. It was a reasonable reaction in their opinion though. He was the one with the most scenes with the man.

"So, what do think of him now Manaka-chan?" Murasame asked with a now smug attitude. "You still think he's as good as you thought?"

He turned to look at the girl but she wasn't paying attention. She was looking over at Cain with an almost longing expression on her face.

"Manaka-san? You okay?"

"Her face is all red."

"Hey Manaka-chan, snap out of it."

Manaka only came back to reality when the voices around her got louder and closer to her ear.

"Uhh… What?" she asked, still sounding and looking dazed.

"I was asking if you think Heel is still as good as you thought," repeated Murasame. "You've seen the mark on his sister's neck. It obviously came from him since he has the same mark on him."

Blushing, she looked away and nodded.

"Yes. That might be so but that doesn't make him a bad person," she reasoned.

Murasame was gaping at her yet again as he always did when he heard anything good coming out of her mouth that she used to describe Cain Heel. The girl seemed oblivious to the truth or simply refused to believe it.

"I think it's sweet," Manaka pressed on more firmly and more adoringly now, looking up at his colleagues who were giving her incredulous looks. "Although he's done something like that with his sister, I think it proves that he's a real softie deep down. I'll prove it! He'll pet me again today for sure!"

With that said the petite girl jumped off from her seat excitedly and promptly made her way towards the siblings.

"Haaa?!" the group chorused.

"Wha- Wait! Manaka-chan!" Murasame called. He cursed under his breath before running after her. "Not again."

**xoxo**

"You haven't had any more headaches lately, right?"

Kyoko shook her head.

"This time, I really am perfectly fine."

Ren placed his hand over the mark he had given her and stroked that area gently.

"What is it?"

He smiled at her. "I like letting people know you're mine."

Her cheeks flared up again.

Ren was about to point this out but his intent was impeded by a sudden weight on his free arm.

"Cain-san! Cain-san!"

He and Kyoko looked down at the newcomer whom they didn't even notice until now. They have been too preoccupied with each other.

"How are you today? I'm doing great! But I'll feel better if you pet me and stroke me again like that last time! Pleaseeee?! I'm your cute little hamster, right?"

Ren pulled his arm up as he always did when the girl clung onto him but she had a firm grip on him this time so he ended up lifting her off her feet and up into the air.

"Yayyy! Cain-san is Manaka's swing! I'm a swinging hamster now!" she announced happily as she started to swing her legs backwards and forwards.

Kyoko was horrified and she was pretty sure it was showing on her face too.

'What is this?!' she thought, staring at the girl. She felt both perplexed and appalled just watching her. Not only that, her head had begun to pound again. 'When is this going to end?' she thought irately.

As far as she tried to remember, she already got all her memories back. The only small chunk missing from her thoughts was the day of the accident itself but she didn't even bother trying to remember anything from that time. She figured it would only be painful seeing as she cracked her head that day. Surely her brain wasn't trying to make her remember that too? It was one day! A day's worth of memory loss was something she can accept so why won't her brain let it be?

"Setsu?"

Ren looked at her, not understanding what she was thinking by the incomprehensible expression on her face.

"Why is she all over you like that?"

Manaka, who was being held around the waist by Murasame and was now a few feet away from them, had her arms outstretched towards Ren and was jumping up and down happily.

He sent a glare in the direction of his costars before looking back at her with a frown.

"I already explained this to you before during-" he cut off. He had explained to her about Manaka's behavior hours before the accident took place. Though she was Setsu then and should have retained her memories of that time, he can only presume that she probably forgot the events around the time she hit her head. "It's all a misunderstanding."

She glared up at him, obviously unsatisfied with that explanation.

"Oh? So you have secrets with her then?" she asked mildly which surprised her seeing as her emotions at the moment were anything but. Her head was pounding and her heart- for some damned reason she can't figure out –was pounding even more severely.

"It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?"

"I-"

"Squeak! Squeak! I'm your little hamster and I want you to hug meeeeee! Kyaaaa!"

Ren stiffened as Manaka clung to him again.

"Manaka-chan! Get away from that wretch!" Murasame shouted. When he got his hands on the girl once again, he turned to Ren. "Help me out why don't you? Don't forget, you started this! Why the hell did you have to touch her to begin with?"

This was as much as Kyoko could take. Her head was pounding even more severely now and her heart which felt like exploding mere seconds ago, now felt frozen.

'Stupid Tsuruga-san!' she shrieked to herself as she turned and walked away while Ren continued to try to fend off the girl who was resolutely holding on to him. 'So he has gotten close enough to the girl to touch her? As Cain Heel? He's supposed to only care about his sister and nobody else!'

Kyoko shook her head, trying to ignore the ache in her head.

What horrified her wasn't her surprise and revulsion to Manaka's clinginess to Ren- although that did horrify her enough to make her want to puke since it reminded her way too much of herself with her treatment to Sho before –but it was how she felt about how close the girl was to him.

I mean, how dare Manaka get too close to _her_ onii-san? And how dare he let the woman touch him when his character was supposed to be all over _her_, his sister, alone?

She slowed down from her retreat.

Her head was still resolutely pounding against her skull.

Was her anger really all about just that though? Did she even have the right to be angry? As Setsu, yes, she did have the right to be angry at her brother for touching or even talking that familiarly to another woman. But as Kyoko…

She shook her head.

No, she didn't have the right to feel this much anger towards Ren. He was his own person after all and there's no way she'll be angry or hurt from seeing him with another woman. She had already felt that kind of pain in excess amounts back in middle school when she caught Sho kissing another girl. She will not feel that way again. She will not-

Kyoko was snapped out of her inner battle when a hand pulled her back by the shoulder and deftly stopped her from taking another step forward.

"Setsu!"

Her eyes widened at the worried and almost panicked sound of his voice.

Ren turned her around and pulled her against his chest closely into a tight embrace.

'Wait…' Kyoko thought, feeling rattled. She didn't know if the pounding in her head got worse because the resumed pounding of her heart was cutting off all feeling in the region of her brain.

"I'm sorry," he whispered apologetically.

When he started speaking, everything around her seemed to fall silent in return. The last thing she saw was the members of the crew gawking in their direction and the last thing she heard was Murasame's usually scolding voice when he said "Let's go Manaka-chan, those perverted siblings are at it again!"

"I was only being kind to her back then. I treated her like an animal but she doesn't understand that," he explained further, his voice soft and breathy.

'Wait…' Kyoko thought again, although quite desperately now. The pain in her head felt like it disappeared but the feeling in her heart was getting more and more severe. It was almost suffocating her.

Ren tightened his hold around her waist as the words he had promised her all those weeks ago surfaced in his mind, compelling him to repeat it for her.

"But I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have touched another woman when you weren't around…"

The moment those words were said. Kyoko felt a jolt pass through her. Her head gave a sharp pain and her heart felt like it leapt out of her chest and exploded. She would've assumed she were dead from all the feelings that came onto her so intensely at the same time, if it weren't for Ren's still determinedly tight hold around her waist and the sensations she felt around her neck as he spoke and breathed.

"I won't do it again," he finished just as he had before and felt her body slacken.

Kyoko raised her own arms to hug him back. She pushed her face further against his chest to try and hide as much of her face as she could.

She couldn't risk showing the expression on her face to anyone around her, especially not to Ren for she was nowhere near to being Setsu at that very moment.

Finally, her memories have returned. _All _her memories have returned. And as it turns out, the last piece of her forgotten past was the most important of all.

That final piece held the conclusion which she made and finally admitted to herself from her many thoughts and prolonged feelings for the man who was currently encasing her in his arms.

Kyoko finally remembered that she's in love with Ren.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Okay, so... This chapter I wrote ages ago but I haven't proof read it since then too. If you spot any mistakes or something simply wrong, my bad. I've been neglecting my writing for some time 'cause I'm really busy. Couldn't be helped!

I'm also still in the middle of writing **Mending Mistakes**, so keep a look out for that as well. So sorry for the prolonged delay! I can't say exactly when the next chapter will come either. But, as I said before, I'm not going on another long-term hiatus. I promise you that.

'Til the next update then. See ya!

**RaNe**


	10. Return

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

**"Return"**

* * *

Ren, with his usual frown back on his face, glanced over at Kyoko's direction.

She caught his eye and simply sent him a small smile of recognition.

He nodded at her before turning back to listen to the director who was now currently giving Murasame instructions as to how he wanted him to perform the next scene.

Something was definitely wrong with her. That much he knew. What exactly was wrong with her was something he was still not entirely too sure of. But ever since he had hugged her earlier, she had been acting even less like her usual self as she had for the past week.

He turned to glance at her again.

Their eyes locked once more but now her brows shot up in amusement as well. Ren had been turning to look at her as often as he could manage considering they were still in the middle of filming. The only breaks he had were the one between takes or when the director decided to instruct them about one thing or another.

And there it was again.

His gaze was still on his "sister" but this time her face had gotten quite pink again.

This had gone on almost nonstop now since he let go of her from his embrace earlier. She had been blushing more than usual the past week but now the blush on her face seemed resolutely stuck there. If there came a time for the color to die down, it didn't take long for it to crop up again either.

Yes, something was definitely going on and although he got a vague suspicion of what it might be, he'll never know unless he confronts her about it.

**xoxo**

When Ren's eyes finally averted from her, Kyoko sighed and immediately turned to look down at her fingernails and started pretending like she was checking them for dirt.

She can't risk catching his eye again and really, this is the only sensible reason she could think of as to why Setsu would ever take her eyes away from her brother.

Ever since they shared that intimate-enough embrace earlier, Ren had taken to looking over at her so often that she was starting to worry that it would affect his performance during filming.

But sure enough, he did his scenes perfectly. It was she, on the other hand, who was failing miserably in her performance as Setsuka Heel.

'He saw,' she told herself while still scanning her fingernails. 'He definitely saw it.'

When they pulled back earlier, Kyoko had tried with all her might to put on a straight and mild expression on her face. She thought she had pulled it off perfectly and totally disguised her true emotions from him but she wasn't entirely sure because not long afterwards, the director had called out for him and the rest of the cast to start a run-through of the first scene they'll shoot for the day.

"Okay, everyone back to the previous position!" one of the director's assistants called out when director Konoe made his way off the set.

It was only then that Kyoko decided it was finally safe to look up again.

She was wrong.

Ren's eyes immediately met hers and from the kind of look he was giving her now, it looked as if he had been looking her way all this time.

The heavy blush that rose to her cheeks was instant.

His eyes widened perceptibly and the look of dawning realization that overcame his features led Kyoko to gasp and cover her mouth with her hand.

'He knows!' she thought, horror-struck.

"Scene twenty six, B. Take two," a man announced loudly before snapping his clapperboard in front of the rolling camera.

It was only then, at the very last second, that Ren finally tore his gaze away from her.

"ACTION!" Director Konoe declared.

**xoxo**

Kyoko was trying very hard to not start wringing her hands for that would be very un-Setsu-like so she settled on twirling a finger around her hair.

"I'll have someone call for you later."

She turned to the door as Ren entered the break room with director Konoe stopping just outside.

He nodded at him in understanding.

"You did a great job earlier Heel-san," he said before turning and walking down the hallway.

Ren closed the door and stood there for what Kyoko felt like was way longer than necessary.

When he finally turned around to face her, the look on his face was indecipherable.

Kyoko opened her mouth to speak all the while wishing she sounded more normal than how she felt. "Is something wrong, nii-san?" she gave a mental sigh of relief. She didn't sound like squeaky mouse at least.

He didn't reply, instead simply continued to watch her.

She felt even more comfortable now. The heat in her cheeks seemed to intensify as well.

'Stop it,' she scolded herself. 'Setsuka Heel, you do not blush in such a way in front of your brother!'

"Setsu," Ren finally said in a most impassive voice but which made her jump all the same.

Kyoko mentally cursed herself. Setsu wasn't one to be so tense and easily agitated.

He had a brow raised now.

Now _he_ wasn't acting Cain-like either. Since when did Cain Heel make that kind of face?

She was sure now that he definitely knew. Or that he had a suspicion at least. But she would not let him bait her. She'll hold her silence about the matter for as long as her nerves would let her!

"Yes, nii-san?" she asked in the sweetest voice she could muster. It made her internally cringe though since the sound of her voice made her sound almost too fake.

Ren shook his head and sighed.

Kyoko fidgeted.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

'He definitely knows,' she thought. It wasn't just his question that gave her that idea but the look he was giving her too. Yes, he most _definitely_ knew.

She felt like crying now. She settled on shaking her head at him instead.

"Really?" he asked, stepping closer towards her.

Instinctively, she backed away. She could kick herself right now.

"You really have nothing to tell me, Setsu?"

The corner of her eye twitched.

"W-What?" she demanded, crossing her arms in front of her.

Ren moved quickly then. He took hold of one of her arms and pulled her closer to him. She staggered forward in surprise but he easily caught her and settled both his hands on the sides of her face. He pulled her head up to look up at him.

Kyoko's eyes widened at the position they were in.

This was not something she wanted after only just realizing her feelings for the man in front of her. Looking into each other's eyes in such a close distance did nothing good at all to her heart. Or her sanity.

She felt her entire face burn.

"W-W-What?" she stuttered in the mousey squeak she so dreaded earlier.

Ren leaned even closer towards her.

If he were to get any more closer to her, she was sure he'd hear the frantic beating of her accursed heart.

The look on his face was getting more un-Cain-like and more Ren-like by the second. He was clearly telling her the jig was up and that he didn't care that they were still on the _Tragic Marker_ studio.

Heel siblings be damned.

Kyoko couldn't take it anymore.

"All right! All right!" she suddenly burst out, trying not to cry from embarrassment and fear. "I admit it!"

Damn. Was she that obvious? She may as well be wearing a blinking LED marquee on her head that said "I'm in love with Tsuruga Ren."

Kyoko sagged, leaned forward until her forehead rested against his chest.

"I admit it," she repeated in the most defeated voice Ren had ever heard her use.

"Why did you try to hide it?" he asked gently, hugging her in return to give her reassurance. It would do no good to start accusing her.

"What do you mean _why_?" Now her voice had a choked quality to it. Great. "It's… It's embarrassing."

When the words left her lips, she could feel her face flare up once again.

'All this blushing has got to stop,' she told herself, trying to calm down.

"What's so embarrassing about it?" Ren asked, slightly perplexed. He was actually glad that her memories have returned but she sounds as if she'd rather have lost it forever. "I'm relieved by it."

Kyoko pulled away suddenly to look up at his face.

"You are?"

He nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"But I… I thought you would…"

Her eyes were wide as she continued to stare at him, intently watching for his face to crack into a joking smile or something. But no, he looked as sincere as he could ever be.

"…disappointed," she finished faintly.

"Disappointed?"

He was confused now.

Was there a reason to be disappointed that she regained her memories? Well, there was the fact that they'd be sleeping in separate beds now. And that they won't see each other every single day unless he was scheduled to shoot for _Tragic Marker_. Yes, those were disappointing. He had gotten so used to her and the routine they fell into the past month, a part of him felt even sad by the idea that they won't get to continue it anymore.

But then why would she feel disappointed about it too?

This shot a pleasant feeling down his spine somehow. So she enjoyed their time together as much as he did?

"Yes," Ren finally continued, a frown on his face now. "Come to think of it, I am disappointed after all."

Kyoko felt her heart sink.

So it was true then. Her previous worries about Ren being surely disappointed in her for falling in love with him were on the mark.

She pulled away from him, turned around, and crossed her arms in a defiant looking way. She will not let him see her cry. She. Will. Not.

Clearing her throat she spoke again although this time in a more dignified tone. "Well, anyway, you should eat," she said, gesturing at one of two bento boxes on the nearby table. "You don't know when they're going to call for you."

Ren, puzzled now at her odd and erratic behavior, did as she told although still keeping his eyes locked on her.

There was still something wrong.

**xoxo**

The rest of the day went on as normal.

And it felt like hell to Kyoko.

While Ren continued with filming on set of _Tragic Marker_ with her tagging along and following him as she usually did as Setsuka Heel, she felt worse and worse that by the time they had only an hour left until the day's schedule was over, she felt like dying.

She wanted to go. She wanted to leave. She wanted to be anywhere else but here where Tsuruga Ren was.

To make matter worse, he had still gone on with his usual glancing and staring at her even after their disastrous talk in the break room. Didn't the man have enough? Hadn't he already shredded her heart into pieces? What more did he want from her?

Feeling the back of her eyes sting yet again, Kyoko feigned looking up in interest at the ceiling to hold back her tears.

'I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry…' she chanted in her head. Those words were her new mantra. To hell with people thinking she wasn't acting like the usual Setsu, she just wished they wouldn't see her dissolve into tears. Not only would that be the most un-Setsu-like thing to do, but it would damage her pride worse than it already was at the moment.

"CUT!"

She had only flitted her eyes back down to the set but Ren was already striding towards her in a most ominous manner that everyone from the rest cast and the crew were openly staring at him.

Kyoko could only guess they were thinking along the same lines as she was. That Ren was going to hit her or something.

She flinched reflexively the moment he stopped in front of her.

"W-What?" she hissed, trying to sound unafraid and unaffected by his weird actions. The look on his face clearly showed his foul temper as well.

"Let's go," he replied simply before half lifting, half dragging her out of the studio.

It was apparent that Ren was pulling her in the direction of the break room again so they could speak in private. But much to his annoyance and to her relief, the moment they stepped into the room, their attention was broken by his already ringing cell phone.

Trying not to openly grumble in annoyance at this bad timing, he let go of her wrist and went over to his assigned locker.

Kyoko said a mental prayer in thanks for the moment of reprieve.

"Yes?" Ren snapped into the cell. He didn't even bother checking who it was who was calling first.

"_Ren?"_

The voice brought him back to reality.

"Shacho," he acknowledged in a calmer tone. If he were to let slip to the LME President about his foul temper, the man would bug him about it to no end. Or worse, he might start thinking he was back to being Kuon and come stalking him on set again. "What is it?"

"_We're here to pick you and Mogami-kun up. We're parked in the lot across the studios."_

Ren sighed and rubbed his temple. He had forgotten that he had left him a message telling him about Kyoko's returned memories earlier during lunch. Now he wishes he hadn't. At this point, even he wasn't sure that Kyoko was entirely back to normal to deal with Lory and everyone else. Her behavior since lunch had only gotten weirder and stranger to him.

"Okay. But why are you here?" he finally asked.

"_I want to see her, Maria too although I didn't take her with me. She and the others are waiting for our return at LME."_

"You already told everyone?"

"_Of course. This is a cause for celebration!"_

'Everything is a cause for celebration to you,' Ren thought, regretting more than ever that he had told him. He was surely going to blow this all out of proportion. Again. He can only imagine what sort of "party" the man had prepared.

**xoxo**

Kyoko blinked.

When Ren had told her earlier about them having to leave, she didn't question him. She was too glad he wasn't able to have a talk with her about her behavior in the afternoon which she was sure what brought on his temper earlier.

So when he led her out of the studio to an unfamiliar trailer waiting for them across the street, she was surprised when Lory and Ten- who was using crutches –came out to greet them.

The pair, however, barely said a word to her. They didn't question her or say anything of significance. The only thing they did that involved her compliance, was blindfold her.

Once this was accomplished, she felt her clothes being pulled and her head being touched which she guessed was Ten's doing, while they were driving to wherever they were going.

This baffled her.

What were they playing at? Wasn't she supposed to be Setsuka Heel? When did Setsu ever consent to being treated in this manner? Except, perhaps by her brother. So did they know then? That her memories have returned? Otherwise, she shouldn't have met Ten or the president since she didn't know them when she believed herself as Setsu. Or was this some sort of play that she didn't understand?

No one told her anything. She can't blame them either because she didn't bother asking. She was still at a loss. Too many questions ran through her head that she didn't know what to ask first.

Everything was all too strange to her that she ended up contemplating the situation all that time until they arrived at their destination.

Someone- one of the three, she guessed –led her out of the trailer, down a few steps, an elevator, then down a long walkway.

Then her blindfold was off.

And here she was, standing in front of the double doors to Lory's gigantic office at LME with only Ren as her companion, standing right next to her. And Ren was dressed as Tsuruga Ren now with no traces of Cain Heel on him, from his pristine hair, to his white button-up shirt opened wide around the collar, to his khaki well-fitting slacks, down to his white loafers.

He looked good. Kyoko hadn't seen him dress as himself for the longest time and the image of him right now made her weak in the knees.

This confused her even more. Now nothing really made any sense to her.

She could here scuffling on the other side of the large doors and guessed that Lory and Ten had probably went in ahead of them. In which case, she also guessed that Ren had requested this so he can continue his earlier intension of talking to her.

Tension immediately returned to her at this thought.

But then a minute…

Five minutes…

Ren continued his silence.

Kyoko looked up at him but his eyes were resolutely fixed on the double doors in front of him. He didn't look like he had any intention of saying anything to her either.

"Uhmm…" she started but immediately shut her mouth when he turned to look down at her with piercing albeit inquiring eyes.

"Yes?"

"N-Nothing," she mumbled, looking down.

She got another surprise when she looked down and saw that she wasn't wearing Setsu's ensemble anymore either but instead was wearing weaved wedge heels that matched her white dress. The thin sleeves were ruffled, as was the hem of the skirt and there were a few embroidery patterns of yellow and orange flowers in random areas. The material felt light which could only explain why she didn't feel much of it when it was put on her.

The outfit was quite simple. And she matched Ren.

Kyoko could feel her face burn yet again. Seriously, she had blushed a year's worth of blushes just this very day.

"I… What's going on?"

This question was mostly directed to herself so it came as a surprise when Ren bothered to answer her.

"The president has something prepared for you," he told her.

Her eyebrows shot up. He was referring to Lory as he usually did and he was talking as he usually does and there was also the fact that he currently looked like his usual self too.

It was obvious as day to her now.

"So you also guessed that I got my memories back," she whispered.

This revelation would have horrified her if it had happened before Ren found out she was in love with him. But now, her anxiety over this fact wasn't as much of a big deal anymore. Not after she got rejected.

She could feel her heart ache again.

"What are you talking about?" Ren asked, frowning. She had such a destitute look on her face, it made him forget about his frustration and confusion over her depressing mood that afternoon. "We talked about it earlier. You admitted to it in the break room," he pointed out. "And what do you mean 'also guessed'? What else did I guess?"

Kyoko looked at him, her eyes wide and her jaw open now.

"W-What? So you were talking about my memories? You thought I admitted to that? You didn't find…out…" she trailed off as everything finally sunk into her. 'So Ren guessed that my weird behavior all morning was because I had my memories back and not because he guessed that I fell in love with him?'

Her heart started pounding.

'So he doesn't know about my feelings for him?' she thought, getting ecstatic now. So she wasn't rejected after all!

"What were you talking about that time then?" he asked, getting her attention. "I didn't find out about what? What were you admitting to if it wasn't about your memories?"

Ren watched as her grinning face turned horrified then turned embarrassed.

"I wasn't admitting about anything," she told him although way too quickly to be perceived as the truth.

He gave her a look.

She looked away.

"Mogami-san," he started in a warning voice, "what were you admitting to?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Whose read the latest chapter to Skip Beat!? I can't wait for the next update even if it's not for another month. Ugh. Sucks having to read something that won't be updated for a month at a time.

I won't say much for my other story though. I haven't gotten around to update that yet. Eek! Even for this story I totally forgot to update it even if I've had the chapter ready for ages. I've been _that_ busy.

The next chapter will be the final one by the way. So I hope you enjoyed my story thus far.

'Til next time!

**RaNe**


	11. Resolution

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Skip Beat! but I do own this story.

**Pairings: **Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

This is the final chapter. Finally! Yea? Well, I hope you enjoy!

Please read the bottom for my announcements in the Author's Note section about other current fanfics and future incoming ones.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

**"Resolution"**

* * *

Kyoko fidgeted on the spot. "It was nothing. It… It was simply a…"

The look he was giving her made her want to weep.

"…a misunderstanding," she finished lamely and very much unconvincingly.

With that said, however, Ren changed tack.

Now he was smiling so widely at her, Kyoko felt the blood drain from her face. His gentleman's smile- something she had been fortunate enough not to see for the longest time –right now was so severe and so utterly_ fake_ that it was blinding and was causing her insides to churn uncomfortably.

So she was very grateful when their discussion was interrupted by the opening of the president's office doors.

When the large, green double doors were pulled open, a deafening shout erupted from the room within.

"CONGRATULATIONSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

She was so caught off guard by the intensity of the interruption she could have jumped out of her own skin.

Inside, holding up champagne glasses were Lory, Ten, Yashiro, Maria, Kanae who was shooting the president incredulous looks, Chiori, Sawara and the other department heads as well as other random LME employees. They were also in the company of a dozen or so circus performers who were currently performing their own individual trade in certain areas of the room. She even spotted a few monkeys as well as a full-grown lion.

Kyoko gaped.

Ren sighed.

Once again, the LME president overdid himself.

"What is this all about?" Kyoko asked no one in particular in a very faint voice.

Lory bounded forward with Natsuko- his "baby" anaconda who looked like it's grown a few more feet from when they last saw it –draped over his neck.

"This is your party Mogami-kun, for your recovery!" he announced quite happily right before his attention was caught by a nearby magician doing card tricks in which case he was instantly drawn away.

Kyoko was pulled in then. Everyone was congratulating her for her recovery and welcoming her back for her return. It was only then that she realized that she probably was going to have to go back to work in the Love Me section as well as her other acting jobs. That was something she felt happy about. Acting meant a lot to her now and being able to go back to acting as Natsu or even Bo or whatever other new job she'll get in the future was something for her to look forward to.

"Oy."

She looked up and was face to face with Kotonomi Kanae.

"Moko-san!" she exclaimed in delight at the sight of her dearest friend albeit the look of irritation on her face.

Kanae expertly avoided her raised arms which were aimed at her for a hug and firmly placed her palm on the younger girl's face to keep her at arm's length.

"What's the big idea?" Kanae demanded. "I didn't even know you've been absent all this time because you got into an accident and lost your memories!"

Kyoko pulled back and rubbed her nose. "Well I couldn't have called to tell you even if I wanted to, now could I?"

Although that was the truth and it was obviously not her fault, Kanae was still stubborn. She couldn't help herself. She'd been worried about Kyoko all this time after all.

"Be careful next time, won't you? And don't neglect to wear a damned seatbelt!" she scolded.

Kyoko smiled and nodded. She knew it was her way of showing her affection. Kanae was never totally honest of her feelings and that never changed even as they got closer.

"You still remember me, don't you?" she asked despite herself and stole a glance at Kyoko who merely grinned back. She immediately regretted even asking such a stupid question. "I'm going to get a drink! Might as well take advantage of the president's ludicrousness and get what I can from this party."

Without even waiting for a reply from her, she maneuvered her way through the throng of people.

Kyoko meant to go after her but she was impeded by Maria and then several more people at a time.

Two hours later, the party was still in full swing but the guests' attention was mainly focused on the entertainment now since Lory had finally broken through his hesitation and decided to join in with the tamer who was currently sticking his head into the lion's mouth.

Shaking her head, Kyoko headed up to the office's second floor where people had taken to sitting down and chatting earlier before they all heading down to watch Lory and the other performers. She had been looking for a place of solitude just so she can relax and take a breather from all the talking, eating, and drinking she'd been doing all night.

Luckily enough, one of the glass doors leading to the balcony was open. The fluttering floor-length curtain from the outside wind was proof. She had gone through almost all the corner windows on the first floor but each and every one of them were shut tight. Probably to keep the monkeys from getting out.

Without hesitation, Kyoko stepped out into the cool night breeze.

And the voices reached her ears.

She turned at the sound and saw the two men talking by the ledge not far from her. They stopped to turn to her as well.

"Kyoko-chan," Yashiro greeted with a nod.

Her gaze lingered a moment longer on Ren before she turned to bow back at Yashiro. So this was where they were. She had noticed Ren's absence earlier and her assumptions were correct to think that he was with his manager. She didn't think they'd be here though.

"What are you doing here?" Kyoko asked.

"What are you doing here?" Yashiro asked at the same time.

A smile cracked through her features at this. This was the second time they spoke at the same time and they said the exact same words back then too.

Yashiro seem to have realized this because he chuckled.

"It was getting rowdy downstairs and I had a few things I needed to relay to Ren about his schedule for the rest of the week," he informed, smiling.

Now she was racked with guilt. Ren had to have so much changes made to his schedule to tend to her as Cain. She can only begin to imagine how busy he'll go back to be.

With that thought in mind, she could feel depression overwhelm her again.

That meant she won't be seeing him as much as she had anymore.

"Yashiro-san," said Ren suddenly. He seemed to have guessed what Kyoko was thinking judging by the look of his face. "Can you give me a moment with Mogami-san? I need to discuss something with her."

Yashiro gave him a look and nodded. He turned to Kyoko, who looked stiff and tense now for some reason, and nodded at her too.

"Y-You can stay Yashiro-san," she said in an almost pleading voice. "I'm sure whatever Tsuruga-san has to say isn't something that's…" she trailed away yet again at the look Ren was giving her.

"It's okay Kyoko-chan," Yashiro said, obviously oblivious to Ren's features since his back was turned from him. "I've been eager to see what's going on inside too. I heard the screams earlier."

"It's just the president sticking his head in the lion's mouth," she muttered, looking at the ground. She was desperately hoping Yashiro would stay.

"Really?" he perked up and started for the door eagerly. "Ren, come in when you're done with your talk!"

With that passing statement, he left.

Kyoko looked up at Ren. He was still staring intently at her.

She sighed. "What did you want to discuss with me?"

"You know what it is. You still haven't answered my questions earlier."

Cursing herself, she blushed yet again.

"Tell me," he added persistently. Her reactions to this conversation were only getting him even more curious and even more impatient.

"It's-"

"Don't say it was nothing. You were clearly upset about whatever it was the entire afternoon."

Ren strode over to her then. Although his voice clearly showed he was as serious as ever, the look on his face showed that of concern and gentleness.

This did nothing for Kyoko's resolve to not tell him anything.

"It… It is…" she began in barely more than a whisper. "It's just something about…about me."

He didn't say anything to this.

Kyoko breathed in deeply.

"Also about you. In… In our- your bedroom…that night," she finally said.

She was getting increasingly flustered and hot. If they had spoken of this inside the office without the coolness of the air outside to neutralize her temperature, she was sure she'd have fainted out of heat stroke or something.

Still, Ren didn't say anything.

Kyoko looked up to see his face.

To her surprise, Ren was…blushing.

Not as intensely as she was, for sure, but the small lightest of pink tinge on his cheekbones were a clear indication that the conversation had embarrassed him as it did her.

This realization also made her feel slightly braver.

"When… When that happened. I… I was wondering if…if you-"

She cut off as Ren had suddenly pulled her into their second tight embrace of that day. He can't bear to see her face or let her see any more of his than she just had.

His mind was reeling.

So this was what she had been blushing about all this time? This still didn't explain the disappointed air she had about her at lunch and throughout the afternoon but it sure as hell explained a lot about her other actions.

Right now, she was clearly referring to that night last week when he did what he really should never have done. Did she see through him and now know of his true feelings then? He had been successfully keeping it in all this time. But then there was really no other explanation to his actions. So could he dare tell her now that he loves her? Even though he has his own misgivings, it seemed like the truth was the only option now unless he can quickly come up with a believable explanation as to why he did what he did in that bedroom. But really, what viable explanation could he possibly give her for touching her in places he shouldn't have?

Besides that, hadn't she enjoyed it too though? She acted like she did…until she had been overcome with her headaches. But he knew she definitely liked it. Heck, she even begged him for more! Kyoko or Setsu or whoever she may have been at the time, it was still her body and she definitely liked it. Her reactions to his touch were proof.

Surely, it was an indication of her feelings?

Maybe he should tell her…

"Tsuruga-san?"

Ren snapped back to reality. He squeezed her slightly to let her know he was listening. He can't trust himself to speak just yet.

"So… Uhm… S-Since that time," she pressed on. His disconcerted state seemed to be the fuel to her courage. "I've been wondering if you…meant to…to do that."

In silence, he nodded.

This little gesture made Kyoko shiver in delight as scenes from the night flooded into her head again. She could still remember how incredible his touch felt. Much like how it felt to her right now with his arms wrapped around her, only that time was more…intense.

"I… Tsuruga-san," she whispered. "Why… Why did you do that?"

Ren thought for a moment of how daft this girl could be for asking such a question. What did she mean _why_? Wasn't it obvious? Why else would a man touch a woman in such a way that he touched her that night?

He pulled away, intent on giving her the most incredulous look he could muster. But then decided against it.

The look on her face- with her cheeks very much pink either by embarrassment or because of the chilly breeze around them, he didn't know –made him unable to do so.

She looked so innocent and pure and genuinely baffled that it made it hard to lie to her any longer.

So he didn't.

Ren pulled her back against his chest once again and leaned close into her ear.

"Because I love you, Kyoko," he finally admitted in a low whisper. "I've felt this about you for a while now."

Kyoko's eyes widened, her heart pounding wild and fast, her brain ceasing to function or was it going on overdrive?

Love? Love her? Ren loves her? Tsuruga Ren? Loves her? Mogami Kyoko?

She could feel herself starting to get dizzy as these words penetrated her to the deepest part of her soul.

Ren's distant voice seemed to have surfaced within her as well.

"…_must be unusual for a man my age to have never fallen in love."_

Memories of more than half a year ago were flooding in.

"_How can you tell if it's love?"_

A conversation between Ren and herself as Bo.

"_There will be little things to make you happy… Love… It's simply just like that…"_

"_Happiness? In what way?"_

"_Were you ever… Unable to help but think 'she's really pretty' or 'she's really cute'? To the point where you are completely hypnotized?"_

"_If I have… What does it mean?"_

"_It's a sign! A prelude… of love."_

"_She's only a high school student."_

"_Is she fifteen years old?"_

"_No… I think she's sixteen years old…"_

Kyoko closed her eyes, trying not to cry from the happiness that seemed bent on engulfing her entirely right now.

'So… He was talking about me,' she thought, shaking now. 'After all this time.'

How could this be possible? Is this a dream? If it were, she desperately hoped it would never end.

"I… I… Tsuruga-san, actually I," she gulped, trying to get her emotions- and her breathing for that matter -under control. "I… I love you too… Ren."

Ren pulled away from her so fast as if he was burned.

He looked down at her and saw her words plastered all over her face. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears but she was already sniffing lightly through her nose and breathing gasps through her mouth. And she was smiling. She was smiling an almost painfully happy smile up at him.

He had had his suspicions on her feelings for a while now but he had thought those were only willful thinking on his part. She had, after all, always talked about her "respect" for him as her senior. But now she's actually telling him, showing him, that she loves him too? How was this possible? The number one and first ever member of the Love Me section who was supposed to be immune and even repelled the feeling of love, was in love with him?

"Do you mean it?" he asked, stroking her cheek and wiping a lone tear that found its way out of her control.

Kyoko nodded jerkily. "D-Do you mean it?"

He smiled a most serene and contented smile and leaned closer towards her. He didn't give his reply until his lips were but an inch away from hers.

"I do."

His voice was but a mere whisper but he sealed that confession with the truth as he finally kissed her.

All of Kyoko's tears broke free and she wrapped her arms tenderly around his neck.

* * *

**Epilogue**

* * *

Yashiro tried to bite down the wide grin that was threatening to escape him as he waved his goodbye.

"See you Yashiro-san!" Kyoko shouted with a smile and a wave before getting into the front seat of Ren's Porsche.

"See you tomorrow," Ren told him casually, his hand on the car door handle.

"Ren."

He turned to look at him, his face holding a perfectly normal expression.

"I'm happy for you," he said simply, his grin finally revealed and showing him just how sincerely happy he felt.

To his astonishment and pleasure, Ren nodded with the corner of his lips slightly lifted to reveal a small smile. The young actor's current happiness had obviously made it impossible for him to completely hide his emotions.

"Tomorrow then," Yashiro said dismissively.

In truth, he had a strong urge to start crying tears of joy for Ren which is why he quickly turned on his heel and reentered the LME building to get his briefcase and then head home.

**xoxo**

"Ren?" Kyoko said inquiringly as he slammed the car door close after him.

He couldn't help but smile at the sound of his name coming from her.

"Hmm?"

"Was Yashiro-san okay?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, ever since we left the president's office, he's been acting kind of weird."

So even she noticed it. But then again, how could she not?

Yashiro was positively skipping as they all left the office together. Ren can only guess his manager had witnessed what took place in the balcony. He was, after all, the one who called them back in but only conveniently and precisely right after he and Kyoko had finally calmed down enough to break apart from their hold of each other. He must have seen a big part of what they did.

"Ren?"

He turned to her and gave her a reassuring smile which sent her to another round of cheek blushing.

"Don't worry about it. He's okay. Better than okay."

They didn't speak at all until they turned into a street that they weren't supposed to.

"Ren, where are we-"

"Home," he cut in with a poorly suppressed smile. He glanced at her and saw the confused look on her face. "A lot of our things are still at our place, _Setsu_."

It wasn't just her cheeks now. Her entire face turned scarlet.

"B-B-But I-I-I-I…"

He laughed.

"It's not so late yet," he nodded at the clock on the car dashboard which read 10:08 PM. The party had gone on for five hours and even though they've left, a good number of people were still there. "We can start packing our things from the apartment so we can just pick them up by tomorrow."

She nodded and looked down at her hands on her lap.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yes," she replied curtly. It was obviously a lie.

Ren tried not to smile at her obvious discomfort. He can't blame her. Even he was feeling quite out of it at the moment. They have never consciously entered that place as Tsuruga Ren and Mogami Kyoko before and the only memories they have there are all quite…intimate.

**xoxo**

Kyoko took in a deep, satisfying breath, a contented smile on her face.

She had never felt this way before. Then again, she had never been so thoroughly kissed before either.

A small giggle escaped her lips.

"What's so funny?"

Turning her head, she looked at Ren who was breathing just as heavily with an arm over his forehead. He had the same sort of smile on his face as her own.

"It's nothing," she said, biting her lip.

They were in his- or rather, their –bedroom. Ever since they arrived at the place, things have been somewhat tense. But as soon as they entered the bedroom together, something inside them seem to have snapped and everything else was out of either of their control.

"By the way, I have something more to tell you," Ren suddenly said, his face quite serious.

This caught her full attention.

"What is it?"

He took in another deep breath to settle his still racing heart and irregular breathing.

"I thought I ought to tell you the truth about me."

She rolled over to her side and propped herself up on her elbow. She gave him a nod to go on.

"My real name isn't Tsuruga Ren. That's just a stage name. Did you know that?"

Shock was clear on her face. She obviously didn't know that.

"Then what is…" she trailed off, seeing the partly worried, partly anxious, partly ironic- ? –look on his face.

"My real name is Hizuri Kuon," he said plainly and clearly.

Her jaw dropped.

"Or, as you like to call me, 'Corn'."

Her eyes were the size of saucers now and if it were possible, her jaw dropped down even further.

"Kyoko?"

Her mind was racing with every memory she had of Hizuri Kuu's last visit to Japan as well as her childhood memories of Corn.

She rolled back onto her back and closed her eyes.

'I should have made that connection ages ago,' she thought to herself with a shake of her head.

If Ren thought this piece of news would disappoint her or even anger her, he was mistaken. This confession seemed to only prove to her that they were always- as cliché as it may sound –meant to be together.

She had denied and rejected the idea of "love" ever since her heart got broken and never thought it possible to openly feel the emotion ever again, that's why she denied her feelings for Ren over and over for the longest time. Now she was almost certain that she would never have had the capability to fall if the person who made her so wasn't Tsuraga Ren, Hizuri Kuon, and Corn.

Kyoko smiled.

"Are you-" Ren, who had taken the same position as Kyoko did only seconds ago, cut off as she placed a finger on his lips to stop him from speaking.

"There's also something more that _I_ have to tell you," she began, looking at him with a twinkle in her eye.

He raised his eyebrows and nodded.

Kyoko propped herself up on her elbow again to look at him straight in the face before leaning towards his ear.

"I'm Bo," she confessed simply and pulled back.

Ren had a confused expression on his face for a while before his past dealings with Bo also surfaced at the top of his head. He had always been curious who the person inside the chicken was. His relationship with Bo had been odd and amusing from the very beginning. He didn't know he could talk to and confess to a stranger so easily.

Bo was the first person he had let someone laugh at him so easily for a blunder of not understanding his script. He had also been attentive to him and his problems as well, proven when he so willingly listened to his confessions concerning his ability to love. Then there was also when the chicken- though half dressed as a duck at the time- came to visit him unexpectedly and quite far from TBM Studios just to talk to him when he was feeling low and at a loss.

After all that, he really should have known. It was her.

He had long since convinced himself that he can never have any important person in his life. That loving anyone as he loved Kyoko now would never do. But she, Kyoko, proved him wrong.

Ren opened his eyes and saw Kyoko, still right in front of him, staring. She had a slightly anxious look on her face now.

He pushed her down and landed right on top of her.

"What are you thinking?" she asked when he started absent mindedly playing with her short locks.

"You and me."

"What about us?"

"About how I think that we may very well be born for each other."

"I was thinking that too."

"Oh?"

Kyoko nodded and closed her eyes.

"Do you know what else I'm thinking?" she asked in an almost wistful tone.

Ren made a noise indicating he didn't.

"I'm thinking about how lucky it is that I remembered my feelings for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I love you. That was the last thought and feeling I had before the accident and the last piece of my memory to come back to me. I'm glad I did remember in the end."

"What if something happens that will make you forget your feelings for me again?"

"You already made me fall for you twice," she stated, opening her eyes and smiling up at him. "I'm sure you can make me fall for you again for a third time if needed."

He couldn't help but smile back.

"Just in case," he whispered, "I'll just make it harder for you to forget me."

Still smiling but rather too sweetly now, Kyoko wrapped her arms around his neck. "How are you going to do that?"

To answer her question, Ren lowered himself and planted a feather-light kiss on her forehead.

Kyoko slowly closed her eyes again, relishing the feeling of his lips against her skin.

"Remember," he whispered then before proceeding to give a similar kiss on the tip of her nose.

A poorly repressed smile appeared on her lips.

"Remember," he whispered again and softly kissed her left cheek. "Remember," he kissed her right cheek. "Remember," he kissed her below her ear. "Remember," he kissed her on her jaw. "Remember," he kissed her on the nape of her neck where the slightly faded hickey was.

Ren moved up to her ear again.

"I love you Kyoko. Never forget that, and always remember."

With that, his lips touched hers and they shared a deep and searing kiss. It was a kiss full of passion that held all of their thoughts and feelings for one another.

Kyoko then knew for sure that this will always be embedded within her mind, within her heart, and within her soul.

This was something she will never forget.

This was something she will always… _Remember_.

* * *

_** - THE END -**_

* * *

**Author's Note:**

And we're done.

That's it for **Remember**. This was always meant to be a short story. When I wrote and finished this two months, I didn't bother changing or adding any more details even after the recent update to the manga or from last minute ideas I had. I left it as is from how I originally thought for it back then. I didn't bother proof-reading either for that matter. :P

So, a big thank you to all my readers who read/reviewed from beginning 'til the end. I hope to see you around FFN for when I decide to update or add any more stories to the **Card Captor Sakura**, **Skip Beat!**, or some other fandom I might get into in the future.

I'm actually currently in the middle of trying to write a **Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan** story seeing as I've been obsessing over it for weeks now. Unfortunately, the character I so adore and want to write about, the awesomeness that is Lance Corporal _Levi_, is just so damn hard to write! I never found a character this hard for me to write before. I write romance so you can imagine how hard that is to do with his totally impassive demeanor and damned personality (even though I love it!). I just can't write a sweet scene or anything romantic without getting him too OOC and it's his character that I want to preserve the most. Ugh. Not to mention I can't write a story with him paired with any of the current characters (too much yaoi ships going on there, especially LevixEren and LevixErwin and I can't support the LevixHanji and LevixMikasa ships either. It just all feels so wrong for me!). Meaning? I have to create an original one of mine and I've never been comfortable writing OCs as lead characters. *Sigh* You see my predicament, right? But I sooooo want to write one! So I'll keep trying. Feel free to throw me a couple suggestions too if you can.

As for **Mending Mistakes**, I'll be updating that story when I get around to it. I've been busy with quite a number of things lately and the only free time I have seem to revolve around my Levi-obsession. So sorry about that! But I'm surely updating that story some time. I promise, there won't be a year long hiatus so just please bear with me and my tardiness for the time being!

So, if any of you dear readers would like an update to my next story (which will most likely be a **Shingeki no Kyojin** one), either regularly check my FFN profile page or you can also just follow/favorite (I'm not sure which one gives you instant e-mail updates) this story because I'll be uploading the first chapter of my next fanfic. in this story file.

That said, I hope to see you guys again sometime somewhere!

Again, a big THANK YOU to all my readers and reviewers for reading/reviewing/following/favoriting this story. I also appreciate the people who took the time to message me about the most random things from my stories, to just talking about manga/anime. I do enjoy interacting with you guys!

That's it for now.

You'll be hearing from me again soon! ;)

**RaNe**


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